Everything is changed
by Danni1989
Summary: Takes place a few days after Stefan leaves.  Damon and Elena are falling in love.  What will happen?  Will Stefan come back?  Does Stefan still have a place in her heart?  Will their love be able to survive everything?  R&R.
1. Chapter 1

i know i shouldnt be posting another story right now. but i couldnt help it after seeing the finale. i'm not sure if i'm going to add another chapter yet. it depends on the response. i hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think. you're reviews are the best motivation.

PS i own nothing :(

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><p>It was a few days after Stefan left with Klaus, and Elena had yet to hear from him. On one hand she was worried, but on another hand she couldn't help but feel grateful to him for doing it to save Damon's life. It was unforeseen, but in those few days Damon was slowly becoming her everything. She couldn't believe it. But his confession of love, awoke things deep inside of her that she didn't know existed. Feelings of love, need, friendship, caring and a plethora of others things more forceful than she had ever felt before. While she missed Stefan, she wasn't paralyzed by his absence as she would have been without Damon.<p>

"How are you feeling?" she asked him as he walked down the stairs the next morning.

"I'm fine Elena. I was fine a couple hours after I had Klaus's blood." he told her.

"I know. But I'm worried about you. I almost lost you Damon." she said frowning at him.

"I know. And I love that you're worrying about me, but I am really fine." he assured her.

"Just indulge me. Go upstairs and climb back into bed. I will bring you breakfast." she said.

"That's not necessary Elena. You havent let me out of bed for days. And normally I wouldn't have a problem with that, except that all I am allowed to do in bed is read, or watch TV or eat. None of the usual things I do in bed." he whined.

"Please Damon." she said rubbing her forehead, her lack of a good nights sleep finally catching up with her.

"Fine. For you I will go upstairs. I will play your little game of you needing to take care of me. Even though I do in fact have all my strength back and I feel perfect." he said.

"Thank you." she said. He leaned in and kissed her cheek before heading back upstairs, muttering about how annoying she was the entire way to his room.

Elena warmed up a cup of blood and carried it up to the room for him. Her lack of sleep was really catching up to her, and the coffee just wasn't doing it anymore. She hadn't slept since the night he was cured. She couldn't. Anytime she tried, she would have a nightmare where he actually died. And for whatever reason it left a whole so deep in her chest where her heart used to be. She didn't understand it.

"Here you go." she said handing him the blood.

"Are you okay?" he asked her concerned.

"Tired." she said.

"Have you slept?" he asked still concerned.

"I cant sleep. I havent slept since that night" she told him.

"You need to get some sleep." he told her.

"I wish I could. But every time I try, I wake up because of nightmares." she said her emotions coming through to her voice.

"Come here." he said patting the bed next to him. She obliged and sat down on the bed next to him.

"I'm sorry Damon. I'm supposed to be strong for you during your recovery." she said sitting beside him.

"I'm fully healed Elena. Let me help you. Come here." he said holding his arms open for her. She slid into his embrace and laid down against his chest.

"I'm so happy you're okay." she told him the tears flowing freely now.

"I'm fine. Shhh. I'm fine." he said kissing the top of her head. Eventually her sobs wore her out and she fell asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, he laid there with her, alternating between stroking her back or her face.

He couldn't believe how much he loved her. And here she was, asleep in his arms. Granted the only reason she was there, was because she didn't want to leave him alone. And that Stefan wasn't here. Thinking of Stefan left him with a odd feeling consisting of anger and gratitude. He was angry because yet again Stefan proved what a kind, good person he was by risking his way of life to save his life. But he was grateful because he would never have had any of these moments, if it weren't for him. The grateful feeling was more dominant at the moment and Damon hoped to himself that wherever Stefan was right now, he would be okay.

Elena woke up a while later, realizing where she was. She was grateful to Damon for letting her sleep.

"How are you feeling?" he asked when he felt her stir.

"Better. You?" she asked.

"I. Am. Fine!" he told her enunciating every word.

"Right. Sorry." she said sheepishly.

"Do you want to do something? I really don't want to stay cooped up in here all day. The house gets depressing after a while." he said.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"We could go to the Grill. I could buy you lunch for being such a good unnecessary caretaker for the past couple days." he suggested.

"Sounds good." she agreed.

"Good lets go. Unless you want to pretty yourself up first, which by the way is a complete waste of time since you already look flawless." he said.

"I'm fine Damon. Thank you." she told him smiling at him.

"Lets go." he said taking her hand. She couldn't deny that feeling of his hand in hers was an amazing feeling. A feeling that she didn't want to go away. Not now. Not ever.

When they walked into the Grill, they saw Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, and Tyler sitting at a table.

"Do you want to join them?" she asked.

"Do you?" he asked her back.

"It would be fun. But if you don't want to sit with them, then its fine. I know Tyler's not your favorite person at the moment." she said.

"It's fine. I survived no hard feelings." he told her.

"Wow. I totally expected you to snap and try to kill him right now." she marvelled.

"I know. But I don't want to ruin how we've been lately by doing something like that." he told her.

"Good." she said. Together they walked over to the table.

"Can we join you?" Elena asked.

"Of course." Caroline shot in happily. The duo pulled up a chair to the table and immediately joined in the conversation.

"Hey Damon. I'm sorry for almost killing you." Tyler said apologetically.

"No hard feelings." Damon said noncommittally. Everyone broke into their own individual conversations, until Matt you was working came over to the table.

"Can I get you guys anything?" he asked, trying to avoid looking at Caroline who looked quite cozy with Tyler.

"Bring everyone a beer." Caroline said.

"Okay." Matt said.

"And why don't you take a break and join us." Caroline suggested, not liking seeing Matt so out of the loop.

"It's fine Caroline." he said brusquely.

"Please Matt. We're celebrating." she said.

"What exactly are we celebrating?" he asked, although he didn't really want to know.

"We're celebrating the fact that we're all still alive and together." Elena shot in. Matt nodded and walked back to the bar to get their drinks.

"So have you heard from Stefan?" Bonnie asked during a lull in the conversation.

"No. He's not retuning my calls. But if you're asking, I'm sure our relationship is over. During the past couple days I became familiar with things about myself that I never knew before. I never knew them because I was always hiding with Stefan." she said.

"That's… good." Caroline said uncertainly. The group sat together and talked, Damon mostly kept a silent vigil at Elena's side, not really having anything to say.

Damon, was starting to get bored, during a mind numbingly boring conversation the girls were having about senior prom dresses, and Jeremy and Tyler were talking about art. Damon was on his own, although the idea of taking Elena to prom was highly appealing. He didn't know if she wanted him to, but he could ask. He was sitting silently, when someone walked up behind him and covered his eyes.

"Surprise. Havent seen you in a while stranger." Andi said kissing the side of his neck. Elena watched it and jealousy grew inside her. Damon moved her hands from him.

"Hello Andi." Damon said.

"So I was thinking I'd kidnap you away and we could talk or…" she trailed off.

"We do need to talk Andi. Let's go over to the bar." he said sighing. She nodded and walked over there.

"I'll be right back." he told Elena kissing her cheek. She nodded, and watched him leave.

"Alright, so there's really no sensitive way to do this so I'm just going to. It's over. Whatever we were has to stop." he told her bluntly.

"Why?" Andi asked.

"Because I'm in love with Elena." he said.

"what was that?" Bonnie asked referring to the kiss Damon planted on Elena's cheek.

"What?" Elena asked feigning ignorance.

"That kiss. What is going on with you and Damon?" Caroline demanded.

"Nothing. We've just spent every waking hour together for the past couple days." Elena explained.

"Oh that's not all it was and you know it. They way you've been all afternoon signals something is going on. Are you dating Damon?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. We've kissed a few times and I really care about him. But we havent made anything official. I don't know what we are." she said.

"He's in love with you." Caroline noted.

"I know. And I'm in love with him too." Elena affirmed.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is a second chapter for those of you who asked for it. it was actually ready yesterday, it just wouldnt let me post it. I hope you all like it as much as i do. i really enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think.

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><p>"So are you going to tell him?" Bonnie asked later that at Elena's house, after Damon practically forced her to go home and get some sleep, and hang out with Jeremy.<p>

"What?" Elena asked.

"That you love him?" Bonnie asked as she laid across Elena's bed.

"I don't know. It seems wrong somehow. I mean Stefan just left." Elena said wringing her hands.

"Listen to me. While, most of the time you'll never find me defending Damon as you well know. But you and Damon are good for each other. And if I can see that considering how much I dislike Damon at times, then I think anyone can. Give it a shot, Elena, you owe yourself that much. And if it doesn't work you, then at least you gave it a shot." she said moving to sit next to Elena on the floor.

"But it's wrong to go after your ex boyfriends brother in the first place. I would be the second girl to be with both of them." she fretted.

"You are nothing like Katherine. And besides your not using either of them like Katherine was, and your not with both of them at the same time. And you're not a evil vindictive bitch. And your not playing with Damon's emotions, because you feel the same way. And unlike Katherine, you've chosen Damon, instead of Stefan. Not that I like Damon at all, but I think he does deserve to be chosen at some point in his life. Maybe that can fix him. He's always been the second choice it seems." Bonnie assured her.

"Shouldn't I wait a while. If this does work out, I don't want it to be a rebound relationship." Elena said.

"You could. But I think that the sooner you two get together the better you will be. Believe me sweetie, I know that this wont be a rebound relationship. It's been brewing between you two for so long, I've sensed it for months now." Bonnie said her eyes twinkling.

"Months?" Elena asked.

"Yes months. And that was just from you. From Damon, its been since a while after he moved here. But I ignored it because I hated him so much. Believe me, I'm the queen of inappropriate relationships, I'm dating your brother. And Caroline, is in an odd relationship with Tyler. I have no idea what they're doing." Bonnie said.

"You think I should go for it?" Elena asked.

"I do. You owe it to yourself to go and be happy." she said.

"But what if Stefan and I arent over? What if he thinks we're still together?" she asked.

"Call his cell. If he doesn't answer, then just assume its over." Bonnie suggested.

"Okay." Elena agreed. Picking her phone up off the ground she dialled Stefan's number. She let it ring until it went to voicemail again, knowing it was over she didn't even leave a message.

"I assume he didn't answer." Bonnie said.

"You assume correctly. By the way you're relationship with my brother isn't inappropriate. Just because he's my brother doesn't mean you cant love him. There's no one better suited for him." Elena told her best friend.

"Thanks. Call Damon." Bonnie instructed.

"Fine. Bossy." she said dialling the other very familiar number.

Damon answered on the very first ring, worried and excited that she was calling him.

"Elena, what's up?" he asked trying to control both emotions in his voice.

"I needed to talk to you. Can you come over?" she asked, not wanting to have this conversation over the phone.

"Of course. Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. I just want to see you." she said smiling at how easy the words came out of her mouth.

"I'll be right there." he said, allowing some hope to creep into him. If she wanted to see him, that must mean that she cared for him in some way. Ignoring his car in the driveway, he used vampire speed to make it to her house in record time.

"I'll go visit with Jeremy." Bonnie said standing up.

"Please keep it down. Now that you're in love with my brother." she said teasingly.

"Ha ha. You too." Bonnie said walking out just as the doorbell rang downstairs. Taking a deep breath Elena walked downstairs and opened the door to the partially worried face of Damon.

"Is everything alright?" he asked worried, while bracing himself for a fight.

"Everything is fine Damon. I just wanted to talk to you." she said.

"Okay." he said relaxing slightly.

"Can we talk upstairs?" she asked. He nodded and she led him upstairs to her room. She went and sat on her bed and he stayed standing by her door, as if he was intending on making a run for it.

"You can come sit over here with me. I need to talk to you and its easier if your over here with me." she said.

"Okay. But what could be so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone?" he asked sitting next to her. If he wasn't careful, he would start hoping and having that hope dashed would kill him guaranteed.

"I don't know how to do this. I've never done this. But I called Stefan this evening again and he didn't answer his phone again. So now its over between us, even though I'm sure it was the minute he left town with Klaus. Damon I just wanted you to know that I choose you." she said.

"You what?" he asked trying to make sure he heard correctly.

"Damon, I choose you. I choose you Damon." she said tearing up slightly when she realized how easy it was to say the words.

"What do you mean, you choose me?" he asked trying to protect his emotions if she didn't mean what he was hoping she meant.

"I mean that I love you Damon. I've felt it for a while, but tonight Bonnie convinced me to tell you. I love you Damon, and its okay if you don't feel the same way for me." she said at the look on his face. The look changed into something resembling comic disbelief when he heard what she said.

"You think I don't feel the same way for you?" he asked in disbelief.

"Why would you?" she asked.

"Okay. I told you when I was dying that I loved you. I meant it." he told her.

"I know. But I thought maybe it would look different now that you're healed." she mumbled.

"It didn't. I love you Elena." he said, the words falling clearly from his lips. The words caused her to break down, tears falling down her face in two steady streams. He pulled her to his chest so he could hold her tightly. He kissed the top of her head trying to will her to stop crying.

"I love you too Damon." she mumbled into his shirt. Never in his more than a century of life, had those words ever been spoken so clearly, so meaningfully. He felt loved and it was from the girl he loved. Not able to wait any longer to feel her lips on his, he pulled her face up and kissed her as softly as he could not wanting to scare her away. The kiss was timid, not at all like any other kiss Damon had ever partook in, but deeply satisfying. When he broke apart, in need of breath, she stared into his eyes.

"You take my breath away." he said quietly.

"I love you. Do you think this can work Damon?" she asked scared of the answer.

"Of course. I love you and you love me. It'll work out." he promised her lifting her chin with his finger so he could look in her deep brown orbs. He was rewarded with a brilliant smile gracing her beautiful features.

"So boyfriend. Now that we're together, I'm going to be demanding some pretty romantic gestures." she said smiling at him.

"Okay girlfriend. Don't worry, you're going to get to know a completely different Damon Salvatore than anyone else knows."

"Good." she said leaning forward to kiss him once again.

" I do have to ask though. I don't want to. But what if Stefan comes back? If say on the odd chance that Klaus releases him and he comes back normal. What then?" he asked hating how needy he sounded.

"Don't worry. I've been hiding these feelings for a long time according to Bonnie. I love you Damon. Stefan coming back wont change that." she promised him.

"Good. Because I wont let Stefan coming back change that." he told her kissing her.

"Good." she agreed.

"But now, being the good, kind, respectable boyfriend, I am going to leave. And I will be back tomorrow morning to pick you up." he told her getting up off the bed.

"And why are you picking me up tomorrow morning?" she asked curiously.

"Oh Miss Gilbert. I think that since tomorrow is Saturday, I think I shall plan an amazing first date for us. A first date that surpasses anything Stefan had ever planned for you. It'll be an all day event, so keep your schedule free." he instructed her.

"Yes sir." she said mock saluting him. She couldn't believe how much she changed since she realized she was in love with Damon. She had more fun, she was less serious. All in all, it was a good change, she could feel it.

"I'll see you tomorrow." he said kissing her once more.

"See you." she said.

"Try hard not to miss me too much." he joked, smirking in her direction.

"Don't worry about it. I wont." she joked back. His smirk disappeared for a fraction of a second, before he plastered it back on his ridiculously handsome face.

"Sure you wont. I can see that you already miss me. It's going to be a long night for you Miss Gilbert." he joked, before speeding out of the room, neatly missing a pillow she sent flying towards him.

Once Damon was gone, Bonnie emerged back in her room.

"So, how was the talk?" she asked.

"Good." Elena said purposely not divulging any information.

"Just good. That doesn't sounds great." Bonnie said sitting on the bed, ready to comfort Elena if need be.

"So I take it you weren't listening in with any of that amazing witchy mojo you've got going on?" Elena asked curiously.

"No. For a couple reasons. I didn't want to betray your privacy and I was a little busy with your brother." she said.

"Oh. Ew." Elena said scrunching up her nose at the idea of Bonnie and Jeremy making out.

"Now. You? Damon?" she asked demanding details.

"Fine. The talk with wonderful. Amazing. Fantastic. Phenomenal." she said listing.

"Does that mean he feels the same way?" Bonnie asked eagerly.

"Yes. We're together. For real. He's taking me out all day tomorrow for in his words "the most incredible first date ever."" she said excitedly.

"I've never seen you like this. You're so happy. And if you're happy, I'm happy." Bonnie said hugging her friend.

"Caroline should be here for this. I have to call her. She needs to share my happiness." Elena said. Bonnie nodded eagerly, and Elena sent a text message to Caroline demanding she make an appearance immediately. Only a couple minutes later Caroline walked through the bedroom door.

"That was fast." Elena noted.

"You said immediately. What's wrong?" Caroline asked.

"Nothing. I just want you to share in my happy giddiness." Elena explained.

"Okay…?" Caroline said confused.

"Damon and I are together for real. We're in love." she said.

"You and Damon?" Caroline asked her eyes widening.

"Yeah." Elena said nodding. Caroline squealed and hopped on the bed throwing her arms around Elena.

"We've been waiting for you two idiots for months now. The romantic tension between the two of you has been at a boiling point for months now. Stefan was just getting in the way of that. I'm so happy." she said bouncing up and down on the bed.

"Thanks Caroline. He's spending the day with me tomorrow. He's planning something pretty incredible." she explained.

"It's Damon, you can bet its not going to be boring. I am so sleeping here tonight, so I can see you off in the morning." Caroline stated climbing under the covers of Elena's bed.

"Me too." Bonnie said as she too climbed under the covers.

"You're not going to go sleep with Jeremy?" Elena asked. "There'd be more room if I did. I didn't because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Bonnie said smiling.

"If you want to crawl in with my brother, then go." Elena said laughing at the expression of Bonnie's face. "I'll see you in the morning." Bonnie said skipping out of the room. Elena crawled into bed beside Caroline and they both fell asleep. Elena slept dreaming about Damon, and for the first night she slept without Stefan's face popping up in her subconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

really hope you enjoy this, and dont hate me for the super long delay. truth is, this has been written for over a month but i was having computer issues and nothing was going according to plan. but i hope you like the date. i put a lot of thought into it, one of my favorite dates ive ever written. its mostly fluff. Let me know what you think. :) I love hearing what you guys have to say, it motivates me to keep going. i promise the wait for the next chapter wont be so long. Thank you for sticking with the story after the delay. :)

I own nothing.

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><p>The "something incredible" that Damon had planned involved him getting Elena out of bed at 6 am. A prospect that she wasn't entirely pleased with.<p>

"Why am I up this early?" she asked with faintly disguised annoyance creeping through her voice.

"Because we need to get an early start. I have lots planned for us tonight, and we need to get moving." he explained.

"Is there breakfast somewhere in this plan this morning. Or do I have time to eat some cereal?" she asked.

"We will go for breakfast first." he said.

"Good. I am starving." she said quietly, not wanting to wake Caroline who was sleeping. Forgetting about Caroline's newly developed super hearing, Caroline snapped up in bed.

"It is only 6 am. I need my beauty rest, and you two talking so loudly is starting to annoy me." she snapped rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Sorry Caroline. We're leaving now." Elena apologised.

"Good. Now why exactly is 6 am a reasonable time to pick someone up for a date. There has got to be some sort of etiquette rule against that." Caroline mumbled, laying back down and pulling a pillow over to cover her face.

"You know, I think I agree with Caroline." Elena said softly.

"Well, if you don't want her to bite you're head off, we better get going." Damon said pointing to the door.

"Yes we should. And for the record, I don't think she would bite my head off, I'm thinking more of yours." she said.

"Right. She couldn't catch me." he remarked leading her down the stairs and out the door to his car.

"I cant do this. I really cant do this. I cant betray Elena like this." Stefan fretted to Klaus.

"And I care why?" Klaus asked rhetorically.

"Because what kind of help would I be, if I killed myself before you could use me?" Stefan asked.

"That would make me very angry. But you do make a valid point. What is it that you want Stefan?" Klaus asked.

"I need to talk to Elena. I need to see her once more. And let her know that I still love her, and that I will be back home sometime. I will come home to her. Because we are meant to be together forever." he said.

"How cute. What makes you think that Elena, didn't move on the minute you left town. The way I remember it, you have a lothario like brother there, and he could have taken her affections." Klaus said.

"Elena wouldn't do that. Elena's not Katherine." Stefan said firmly.

"And so what you're saying is that, you will kill yourself, rendering yourself useless to me. If you don't get to go back to Mystic Falls, to see Elena. If you see her and talk to her, you will willingly come back to me and continue the rest of you're sentence?" he clarified.

"Yes. I promise. I just need her to know that I will come back to her someday." he said.

"Fine. I will accompany you, just to make sure you don't get some smart idea to run away. You know the kind of life someone has when they run from me. Look at Katherine, she spent her entire life as a fugitive. You don't want that." he said.

"I don't." Stefan agreed.

Damon drove then to a pancake house, so Elena could eat. He sat across from her eating a stack of pancakes.

"Are you really going to eat all of those?" he asked laughing.

"Yeah. These pancakes are so good. I may not be able to walk afterwards, but I will eat every bite." she said.

"I cant wait to see that. Although today kind of requires you to be able to walk." he noted.

"Oh, you're strong. You can carry me if necessary." she said.

"uh huh. I guess that is true. Besides it's a win-win. You wont have to walk, and I will have you really close to me." he said.

"Exactly." she said grinning. Once they finished at the pancake house, he drove to a spot in the woods and parked the car.

"Are you bringing me out here to kill me?" she asked jokingly, seeing nothing around her for miles.

"No. Not yet. We have a little walk to take. I'm taking you to one of my favorite places in all the times I have lived here." he said.

"What makes you think I've never seen the place before?" she asked.

"You may have. Stefan knows of it too. But you havent seen the place from my perspective. I've went here every time I've had some big thinking to do. Or when I finally discovered that Katherine was using both me and Stefan." he said.

"Can I tell you something?" she asked as he took her hand and they started walking.

"Of course." he said looking at her.

"Okay, this is going to sound so stupid. But sometimes, I feel like Katherine. I mean I was with Stefan and now I'm with you. I didn't waste any time getting with you once Stefan was gone. It's like the feelings I had for him just vanished, being replaced with the feelings I have for you. Katherine did the same thing. When you weren't around she had her fun with Stefan, and when Stefan wasn't around she was with you." Elena said looking at the ground as she said it.

"Elena. Look at me. You are nothing like Katherine. Katherine was evil, and she was with the both of us at the exact same time. You on the other hand are good, and kind and beautiful. And virtually flawless in every way. You are nothing like Katherine. I promise you that." he said grabbing her chin and forcing her to look in his eyes.

"Thank you." she whispered before reaching up and kissing his lips softly. When they broke the kiss, he took her hand again and they continued walking.

"You know this could go a lot faster if you carry me and use your super vampire speed to make it to the top." she said glancing up at the mountainous hill they had to climb.

"I'm sure I could. But what's the fun in that. Besides you see so much more taking a slower pace." he said.

"Fine. But at the very least you could carry me. I don't think I can make it." she said.

"Fine. Climb on up." he said bending down so she could climb up on his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, as they continued the pace they were originally doing up the hill. About halfway up the hill he kissed the side of his neck.

"what's that for?" he asked.

"To say thank you. The day has barely begun, but its still one of the best days I've spent in a long time." she said.

"You're welcome. When we get to the top, we'll take a break. But then we have to travel some more." he said.

"We're not stopping at the top?" she asked.

"We're having a little stopover. There's a great view from the top. But we still have a long ways to go my dear." he said nearing the top of the hill. When they reached flat ground, Damon put Elena down and she stared around her.

"Wow it's beautiful." she said of the view in front of her.

"I brought you're camera in case you wanted to take a picture." he said fishing the camera out of the backpack he was carrying.

"Thanks." she said taking the camera and snapping pictures. "Come here" she said pulling him over to her. She wrapped one of her arms around his waist and he mimicked the action, wrapping both of his arms around her. She held the camera out in front of her and snapped a picture of the two of them.

"Perfect." she said.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep." she answered holding out her hand for him to take. He laced their fingers together, and began their journey down the other side of the hill.

Stefan and Klaus arrived in Mystic Falls, and the first place they went was the boarding house. Stefan searched all the rooms, and found no sign of Damon. He knew there was a distinct chance that Damon may not have survived, that Katherine would not have delivered the medicine. And he hoped that wasn't true, because if it was then Stefan sold his life to Klaus for nothing.

"He's not here." Stefan said upon returning to Klaus.

"Maybe he's dead." Klaus said shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe. Now we just have to find Elena. She could be anywhere." he said. They drove by Elena's house but didn't stop because Bonnie and Caroline's cars were parked outside. He didn't want to disturb their sleepover or anything. He would come back later.

Damon and Elena walked for miles. For Damon it wasn't a big deal, but Elena's legs were beginning to hurt.

"Damon, can you carry me again. My legs are turning to jelly." she said.

"alright." he said smiling at her dishevelled state.

"Thank you. I don't think I could take another step." she admitted.

"It's a good thing we're almost there." he said pointing ahead of him.

"That's where we're going?" she asked pointing to the cave ahead of them.

"Yeah." he said.

"It doesn't look like much." she said deciding on honesty.

"Not from here. From here it looks cold and dark and almost cruel with all the pointing and jutting rocks. But once you see the inside its beautiful." he said.

"Sounds like someone else I know." she whispered kissing the side of his neck.

"Have you ever been here?" Damon asked.

"No. the only place I've seen is the waterfall back there somewhere." she said.

"Well you're in for a surprised then." he said as they neared the cave. Elena wondered how she could have lived in Mystic Falls her entire life but never knew place existed. It was a grey cave in the middle of lush evergreen trees. It definitely didn't look like it belonged. Elena could understand why Damon felt such a connection to this place, and it amazed her that he wanted to share it with her. He put her down when they got near the entrance and just took her hand.

"Come on." he said pulling her to the partially hidden entrance. She followed behind him willingly. When he pulled her inside she lost the ability to breathe. The interior was so beautiful she couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't think.

"This is incredible." she said glancing at the shining walls of the cave. It looked like it was embedded with diamonds and other jewels.

"There's more." he said as he pulled her further down into the cave. The further they went in Elena could hear the sound of running water. Curiously she picked up her pace to match Damon's.

"Check this out." he said as they rounded a corner. As with the beginning of the cave, her breath was taken away. Inside this cave, was this waterfall with all sorts of flowers and other greens growing around it. It was by far the most beautiful place she had ever seen in her whole life. "Damon this is amazing." she said. He spread out a blanket on the rocks and motioned for her to sit down.

"I know it's a little past lunch but I brought us a lunch for today." he said.

"That's perfect." she said.

"Good." he replied smiling a dazzling smile at her. He pulled out the sandwiches and the bottle of wine from his backpack. They ate in silence, Elena busy ogling the cave. Once she finished eating, she stood up and grabbed her camera. She walked through the cave and took pictures of various parts of it. She turned back towards Damon and saw the most peaceful expression on his face that she had ever seen. It was a picture of a man that let all his walls go down. She snapped a picture of it before he knew what she was doing.

"Now I suggest we get a good picture." he said standing up and walking over to her. Like before he wrapped his arms around her, but this time he kissed her temple. She held the camera out in front of her and smiled. The flash went off and the picture was store in the camera. She looked at the camera and smiled.

"That picture is amazing." she said showing Damon.

"It is. But we should head out if we want to be home before late." he said. She nodded and took his hand as they left the cave.

"Will you bring me back here sometime?" she asked.

"Of course whenever you want." he said. She smiled at him and followed him out of the cave. Once they were out, they turned to face it before leaving.

"The place reminds me of you Damon. I mean on the outside you can be cold, heartless, cruel and dark. But on the inside you have the most beautiful soul. You are kind, and romantic and beautiful. Just like you're cave. Have you shown anyone else it before?" she asked curiously.

"No. Only you. Stefan found me there once before. But other than him and now you, no one else knows. I really must love you." he said smiling at her.

"That's good because I love you too." she said.

Later that evening Stefan parked just across the street from Elena's. He knew she had to come home at some point, so Klaus had agreed that they could stay put until she arrived. Klaus decided it was the only way to keep Stefan from pouting and brooding the entire time they were working together. Stefan's eyes peeled when he saw Damon's car pull up outside Elena's house. He saw a happy Damon and a happy Elena climb out. He could see them speaking so he focused his hearing.

"Thank you so much for today Damon. The best day of my life." she said walking up the side walk with him.

"Mine too. And my life has been considerably longer than yours." he said smiling at her. By this time they were standing by her front door. Caroline and Bonnie's cars were gone. Stefan watched intently, he didn't like where this was going.

"So what now?" Elena asked.

"I was thinking like the perfect gentleman I would leave and bid you goodnight." he said.

"what would not perfect gentleman Damon do now?" she asked not really liking the first choice.

"I would kiss you then leave." he said.

"Uh huh. How about he take option two, but with a little alteration." she suggested.

"What kind of alteration?" he asked.

"well first you're gonna kiss me." she said. Stefan's eye's widened. But remained impassive, because just because their kissing doesn't mean they are together for real. Damon obliged and kissed Elena softly.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Now I am going to talk." she said. "I love you. Stay with me tonight." she said.

"I love you too. And if you want me here, I'll stay." he said smiling.

"Good. Because I love you, and right now I don't think I ever want to spend a night away from you. I'm so in love with you. Especially after today." she said. He kissed her once more before she unlocked the front door and they disappeared behind it. Stefan gripped the steering wheel tighter. He would never have guessed it, but Elena was just like Katherine. He was wrong about her, but this time she fell for Damon instead. It wasn't fair. Damon was the bad brother. The dangerous one. While Stefan was the one people could depend on. The good brother. But yet Damon still got the girl.

"Are you ready to join me now Stefan?" Klaus asked.

"I guess. There's nothing left for me here now is there?" he asked rhetorically, before they sped away from Elena's house.


	4. Chapter 4

hope you enjoy it. i hope the Stefan parts arent overly offensive, but i needed to make him seem as evil as i could. sorry for the sporadic updates, they should be back to normal when i get internet back. it shouldnt be too much longer... i hope. i love hearing what you guys have to say about the chapters, they really motivate me as a writer. thanks for your continued siupport. Let me know what you think. :)

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><p>Elena woke up with the sun slanting through her curtains. Opening her eyes, she rolled over and seen the empty spot in the bed next to her. She was momentarily disappointed until she heard whistling coming from the kitchen. Recognizing the whistling she climbed out of bed and walked down the stairs. She seen Damon standing in front of the stove . " I can feel you watching me." he said without turning his head away from the stove.<p>

"You can? Well I missed you this morning when I woke up." she said walking over to where he was standing.

"I bet you did. But if only you had slept longer I would've been back before you even knew I was gone." he said. She smiled at him, and took in the delicious scent of the food he was cooking. Turning away from the stove he placed both hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him.

"You're beautiful." he said softly as breakfast cooked in the background.

" Thank you. You're quite charming you know that. Telling me I'm beautiful when I've only just woken up, and when I'm wearing pyjamas and have a tangled mess of bed head." she said softly.

"I know I'm charming. And you really are beautiful. You'd be beautiful in anything, and probably nothing. I'm using my imagination here." he stated.

"I would hope so. You haven't earned that yet." she said standing up onto her tiptoes to kiss him softly.

Jeremy woke up that morning the happiest he had been since they had lost Jenna. A lot of that had to do with Bonnie. Bonnie awoke happiness inside of him that he hadn't seen since before his parents had died. Climbing out of bed he descended the stairs in the direction of the delicious scent he could smell coming from the kitchen. He was shocked given that never before had Elena ever shown the inkling of any cooking knowledge, but apparently things changed. He hadn't seen much of her since Stefan left. She had been spending most of her time at the Boarding House with Damon, nursing him back to health. She remembered the days that she hated Damon, when he hated Damon, but things changed. Sometimes he found himself actually enjoying Damon, and he liked how he was Elena's friend. Elena needed a friend now that Stefan was a prisoner. He walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks. In the kitchen, he seen Elena raise herself up to kiss Damon. Kiss Damon!

"What's going on in here?" he demanded in shock.

"Jeremy. I wanted to tell you, but its pretty recent." she began.

"What about Stefan?" he asked any trace of anger disappearing from him when he seen the happy smile on Elena's face.

"He's gone. It's over for us, and I think it has been for a while. It took some time, but I'm so in love with Damon. Give him a chance Jer. For me." she begged.

"I will. I've seen Damon change into a better man, so I will. For you I will give this a chance, much like you gave me and Bonnie a chance." he said hugging his sister, seeing the bright smile on her face.

"Are you hungry Jeremy. I made enough food for a few people?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. It smells amazing." he said taking a seat at the table. Damon dished out plates heaped with breakfast and handed them to Elena and Jeremy. They ate together, enjoying the simple pleasures life could bring. Such as life, love and friendship.

Meanwhile, Stefan and Klaus were trekking through the forest. Stefan leading the way. He was angry, and his anger turned into motivation.

"Stefan, I have a new plan." Klaus called from behind him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't really want to leave this area just yet. I figured we'd have our fun first. Test your allegiance." he said.

"I told you. I'm with you. Elena is with Damon. So Mystic Falls has nothing for me anymore." he said.

"Did you really expect her to wait 10 years for you?" he asked.

"Yes I did. We were in love. But it just shows what we meant to Elena." he said bluntly. They slowed down their walking, hearing soft footsteps up ahead.

"Whomever it is…kill them." Klaus demanded. Stefan merely nodded and crept towards the footsteps.

Slowly, predatorily Stefan crept through the woods. He could hear the steps getting closer, and he could tell by the sound of the steps the person was small. Peering through the trees he could see a little girl wandering the woods by herself. A part of him was disgusted by what he was about to do, but the other part shut off his emotions and let the predator in him take over. Moving as silently and as quickly as he could, he appeared right behind her. The phrase "silent but deadly" perfectly complimented Stefan at the moment. With Klaus watching a little ways away, Stefan sank his fangs into the childs neck and proceeded to suck all the blood from her body, gaining strength every pull he took. Soon the child went limp in his arms and she stopped fighting. He through the body into some bushes when she was completely drained. He looked up at Klaus who was clapping loudly.

"It seems I chose the right guy all along. Most vampires have enough conscience not to kill an innocent child I like what you did there." he said happily.

"well I have nothing better to live for." he said unhappily.

"So what's our plan for today?" Elena asked as she stood in her bathroom brushing her long brown hair out.

"I need to try to call Stefan. I really do need to thank him for my life and being able to experience this kind of happiness with you now." he said.

"Alright. Why don't you give him a call while I'm getting ready." she suggested.

"Sounds good. But before I do, I was wondering if you would let me take you to prom. I know its coming up." he said.

"I would love for you to escort me to prom. I will officially have the hottest date in the entire school." she said.

"you will. I'm just gonna give Stefan a call." he said reclining on her bed and pulling out his cell phone.

Stefan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulled it out seeing Damon's name on the screen.

"Who is it?" Klaus asked.

"Damon." Stefan answered with hate in his voice.

"Answer it. I'm sure he wants to thank you, for his girl and his life." he said snidely. Stefan clicked answer on his phone and held it to his ear.

"Hello." he greeted.

"Stefan, you answered." Damon said through the phone.

"Yeah. I hear you're still alive." he said trying to disguise the fact that he seen him.

"I am, and its all thanks to you. So thank you. How are things going for you?" he asked.

"As well as can be expected." Stefan answered not wanting to give anything away.

"Don't worry, Elena and I are going to find a way to save you. I promise." he said.

"That's nice, but I really have to go, Klaus gets to antsy when I spend too much time on the phone." he lied before hanging up.

"Change of plans." Klaus said.

"And what might that be?" he asked.

"we'll see. Hear that sound? It's definitely children. Follow you're instincts. Then we'll see if you're ready for my plan." he said. Stefan's instincts had already taken over and he was running full speed into the forest towards the sounds. When he found them he looked through a couple branches and seen 4 little girls ranging from 4 to probably 8. He licked his lips, loving how vibrant the kids were, it usually made the blood that much more delectable. Sneaking up behind them he attacked.

When he was finished, he wiped his lips on his shirt and disposed of the bodies. Klaus looked on happily.

"You're ready." he said.

"What for?" Stefan wondered.

"You are going back to Mystic Falls. And you are going to gain my revenge and at the same time you're revenge." he said.

"And how am I going to go that?" Stefan asked liking the plan so far.

" You are going to torture you're brother and kill him. He is the only one out there that could challenge me. And now that he is all for protecting Elena, that makes him even more dangerous. And he's smart. He could find a way to beat me. I cant have that. Damon Salvatore has to die." he said.

"You want me to kill my brother?" Stefan clarified.

"Yes." Klaus said.

"I would be happy to." he said.

"Don't be obvious. Go home and live life the way you always had. Say I released you because you were useless. Or something like that." Klaus demanded before releasing Stefan.

Later that evening, Damon and Elena were laying on the couch at the Boarding House, watching movies.

"This is amazing. One of the greatest nights of my life." she said as she nestled deeper into his chest.

"Mine too." he said pulling her closer to his side. She turned her head to the side to take Damon's lips with hers. They kissed until they heard a noise.

"Well well. What do we have here?" Stefan asked.

"Stefan?" Elena said shocked to see him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked equally as shocked.


	5. Chapter 5

Hope you enjoy this. still no interent but i post whenever i am somewhere where there is internet. Stefan is getting crazier and crazier in this story. Let me know what you think. you're reviews really motivate me to write more. i'll hopefully have another chapter out tomorrow or maybe later tonght. Really sorry for my extended absence. Cant wait to hear what you think of the chapter. Read and review.

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><p>"Stefan what are you doing here?" Elena asked, moving her body slightly away from Damon's.<p>

"Klaus released me, isn't it wonderful?" he asked, forcing a smile.

"Yeah." Elena said nervously. She had no idea how to break it to Stefan that she was with Damon now. Damon stiffened into the couch as Elena pulled herself away from him and stood up.

"Isn't it great? Things can finally go back to the way they're supposed to." he said taking big steps toward Elena.

" No Stefan. There are some things we need to discuss." she said placing her hands out in front of her trying to fend him off.

"What sort of things Elena? Don't you love me anymore?" he asked, feigning nervousness.

"Like I said there are things we need to discuss. But its getting late. I should be getting home." she said glancing at Damon.

"Yeah. I'll drive you. Let's go." he said standing up. "I'll be back in a few minutes." he said to Stefan before leading Elena out to the car. Stefan feigned a smile as they left before collapsing into the couch.

In the car on the way to Elena's, Damon was silent.

"Damon, what's wrong?" Elena asked softly.

"How about my brother is back, and now everything is going to change again." he said, allowing some of the vulnerability he felt creep into his voice.

"Damon, nothing is going to change. I promise." she said taking the hand that wasn't on the steering wheel.

"Don't say that Elena. Because things have already changed. I felt you pull away when he entered. And you didn't tell him about us. You just said "we need to talk." You weren't very good at convincing him that you were with me. I don't want you to just go back to Stefan like before. Like what we have shared that past few days didn't matter." he said while staring straight out the windshield.

"You have nothing to worry about. I wont go back to Stefan. I love you Damon. I just didn't want to spring us on him, when he first came home. I wanted to act sympathetically to him. Its not fair after what he's been through to spring that on his immediately after being released. I wanted to give him time. But you have nothing to worry about. I promise you Damon. I love you and only you." she said. When he stopped the car in front of her house, she turned his head in her direction and kissed him softly.

"Pick me up for school tomorrow?" she asked softly smiling at him.

"Count on it." he said smiling at her.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow." she said kissing him once more before climbing out of the car.

Once Elena, opened her front door Damon sped away from the house, feeling reassured that Elena wasn't going to up and leave him. He hated how vulnerable he felt, he hated feeling like that because of a girl. But he would tolerate it because that girl was Elena Gilbert. The girl he loves. Damn, love was a powerful emotion. It made Damon Salvatore feel things he had never felt before. She made Damon Salvatore feel. Damon parked in the garage before venturing into the house and going to the parlour where he had left Stefan. Stefan was sitting in a chair drinking a glass of bourbon. Damon poured himself a glass and sat down in his chair across the room from Stefan.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life Stefan." he said casually.

"whatever. It wasn't a big deal. Did you take care of Elena while I was gone?" Stefan asked casually while harbouring an intense hatred for his brother.

"I guess. She spent a few days taking care of me after I recovered." he admitted.

"A nurse Elena is always kinda hot." Stefan mused trying to get a reaction out of his brother. Not sure how to answer that without revealing the relationship to Stefan, Damon just took a drink from his glass.

"So why did Klaus release you?" Damon asked curiously.

"Oh, apparently I was useless. By the way do you have any blood. I'm real thirsty." he asked.

"Only human." Damon said slightly unnerved by the tangible changes in Stefan. He was jumpy and weird.

"Human is perfect. I've been drinking human blood recently." he said.

"You have? You know how human blood makes you." Damon said shocked.

"I'm better now. Everything is better now." Stefan said holding his hand out for a bag of blood Damon was reaching out.

Elena walked into the house, and sighed hating how quiet the house was without Jenna in it. God, how she missed Jenna. Life wasn't fair. Life took Jenna away, and left her and Jeremy parentless yet again. She turned on the hallway light placing her purse on a hook she ventured into the kitchen for a glass of water. While drinking her water, she could hear noised coming from the living room and very carefully she walked that way and flipped on the light. She gasped seeing Jeremy and Bonnie tangled up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around them. It was quite obvious what they had just been doing.

"Oh my God." Elena said shielding her eyes.

"Sorry." Jeremy shouted as Elena fled the scene. She sat at the counter in the kitchen drinking her water, trying desperately to forget what she just saw. A few minutes later a fully clothed Bonnie and Jeremy joined Elena in the kitchen.

"We are really sorry Elena." Bonnie said softly sitting next to her friend.

"Jeremy. You have a bedroom. Why weren't you in it?" she asked studiously staring at her water glass.

"Because we got in the house and there wasn't enough time to make it to the bedroom. Things were escalating pretty quickly." he explained.

"Ugh, I don't want to hear it. Please. Just ew Jeremy. Never ever, under any circumstances do I ever want to see that again. Just ew. I will never lose this image." she said still refusing to look at either Bonnie or Jeremy.

"Do I lose my best friend card?" Bonnie asked worried.

"No. But you are on notice. I never want to see that again. Couldn't you conjure up something to carry you up to the bedroom or something?" she asked finally looking at her.

"Come on. It's not like it isn't going to happen with you and Damon at some point." Bonnie said.

"If that ever happens between us, it will either be in my bedroom or at the Boarding House. But anyways changing the subject. I'm glad you're here Bonnie Bennett. I need some best friend advice." she said.

"Very thankful for the change in subject, what do you need?" she asked.

"Stefan's back. And I honestly have no idea what to do about it. I mean, I told Damon tonight that nothing would change. And I don't want it to. But I also don't want Stefan to see me as Katherine. I love Damon, but I loved Stefan. And I don't know how to tell him that. It would've been better if Stefan didn't come back for another ten years." she said.

"Wow. Stefan's back. That's a tough one Elena. I don't know how to tell him. I wish I could help you but I don't think that I can. You and Stefan were in love. Is there any chance that those feelings could resurface?" Bonnie asked worried.

"No. At least I don't think so. I am completely in love with Damon, and I don't think he even really believes it I think, that he thinks I am going to run back into Stefan's arms at the first possible moment." she said.

"The Damon stuff I can help with. Make sure he knows that you love him and want to be with him. And make sure you talk to Stefan as soon as possible. Damon deserves it." she said.

"Thanks Bonnie. I'm gonna go call Damon. There's an image in my head that I really want to get rid of." she said glaring at them. Bonnie relaxed into Jeremy and started laughing.

"That went well." Jeremy mused.

"She wants to kill us. Ensure she never sees that again." Bonnie demanded.

"Okay. Now do you want to continue what we started in my room?" he asked. "No. I am going home. A little embarrassment is enough for one day. I'll see you tomorrow." she said gathering up her purse and walking out. Jeremy sighed and walked upstairs before shutting himself in his room.

Damon and Stefan sat in an awkward silence. Damon thinking about Elena. Stefan thinking about killing Damon and Elena. Stefan couldn't remember ever having hated so much in his life. He had drank his blood quickly and now he wanted more. But he wasn't going to convey to Damon that he was fully back on human blood. He didn't need Damon to know all his secrets right away. The awkward silence ended when Damon's cell phone started ringing on the coffee table. Damon glanced at the caller ID and smiled inwardly seeing it was Elena.

"Well hello there." he said answering his phone.

"Hey. I need you to make me forget." she said sparing any formalities.

"I cant. You're on vervain." he said.

"Not like that. I don't care how you do it, but I need to forget what I saw tonight. It was terrible." she said.

"What happened?" he asked worry growing more apparent inside of him.

"Oh I walked into the house tonight after you dropped me off and I walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. I heard noises coming from the living room, so naturally I went to investigate. And what do I find? I find Jeremy and Bonnie together." she said sparing any details. "Together? How?" he asked laughing now.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" she asked praying that she didn't.

"No I get it. Now what can Doctor Damon do for you?" he asked. "Please make me forget. Can you come over? Spend the night?" she asked. "Yeah. I'll be right there." he said.

"Great. I love you Damon." she said.

"Me too. I'll be right over." he said. He hung up the phone and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asked from his spot on the couch.

"Out. I have something to take care of." he said grabbing his car keys and walking to the front door.

"I'm sure you do." Stefan said once Damon was out of earshot. Once Damon was gone, Stefan let down the wall of pleasantness that he surrounded himself in. All that was left now was the bitter shell of the man that used to be Stefan Salvatore.

Damon drove as quick as he could to Elena's and just walked in the front door when he arrived. Locking the door behind him. He walked upstairs and find Elena laying in bed reading a magazine.

"You made it." she said standing up and walking over to him so she could hug him.

"Of course. You called, Damon came." he said smirking.

"Well that's good. I need you to hold me. Maybe that will get rid of the awful image in my head." she said pouting.

"well lets see if this helps." he said pressing his lips to hers. When he pulled away he smirked at the dazed look on her face.

"No. Not quite. I can still see it. You better do something pretty spectacular to make me forget that horror." she said.

"Alright. That is a challenge Miss Gilbert." he said smirking before kissing her passionately.

Stefan watched from the tree outside her window. He could easily kill them right now, but didn't want to do it just yet. Even as he saw their lips moving against each others, their tongues dancing. It made anger erupt inside of him. Damon didn't know that Stefan knew where he came. He hated Damon. He hated Elena. No, wait, this wasn't Elena. Elena wouldn't do anything like this to him. Elena was sweet and kind. Elena wouldn't betray him like this. This wasn't Elena. This was Katherine. The real Elena was long gone and would never come back. Now instead of Elena and Katherine, there was two Katherine's according to Stefan. Elena was dead to him. And soon she would be dead for real.


	6. Chapter 6

Elena woke up in the morning and found Damon asleep beside her. She knew beneath his eyelids, eyes of a startling blue rested. Raising herself up on her elbow, she kissed his lips softly. The kiss caused his eyelids to flutter before opening, and those blue eyes stared into Elena's brown ones.

"Good morning." he said sleepily, yawning.

"Good morning." she said kissing him once more. Pulling herself from the bed, she stood up and stretched.

"You can stay here and I am going to take a shower, since you are taking me to school." she said kissing him once more.

"I wonder if Stefan is going back to school?" Damon wondered aloud.

"I don't know. But it'll be hard to avoid him when we're at school." she said.

"Are you going to tell him about us?" he asked.

"Soon. I promise." she said venturing into the bathroom and shutting the door.

"You know Elena, if you want I could join you in there. Save us time." he called.

"Shut up." she hissed, knowing Jeremy was a couple doors down. She could hear him laughing from her bedroom, and she smiled. When she was finished in the shower she came out dressed in her jeans and t shirt combo.

"You know it should be illegal to look that sexy while going to school." he said appraising her outfit.

"It's just jeans and a t shirt." she said glancing at herself in the mirror.

"No, its tight jeans that sit on your hips just perfectly. And a t shirt that clings perfectly and stops an inch or so from your perfect stomach. All that, equals sexy." he said.

"The way you describe it sounds sexy, but that wasn't my intention at all. it's a normal school day outfit." she said gesturing to her outfit.

"And I am not complaining. You look so hot. I am proud to call you my girlfriend." he said.

"Good. But we should probably get going. Kinda slept in this morning." she said.

"Alright lets go." he said taking her hand and walking her out to his car. He held the door open for her as she climbed in the front seat.

"Such a gentleman." she noted as she climbed in.

" Well it was how I was raised in the 1800's." he said.

"Ah, yes I forgot how old fashioned some of your morals are. Although the morals only come out rarely." she said.

"Only when I want them to." he agreed. They made idle small talk as they drove to the school, when they arrived he got out of the car and walked around to her side. Knowing what he was planning, she stayed where she was and waited for him to open her door like a perfect gentleman.

"Why thank you Mr Salvatore." she said coyly.

"You're more than welcome Miss Gilbert. May I kiss you goodbye?" he asked adopting the attitude of someone from eons ago.

"You may." she stated following his lead. He leaned in and kissed her softly, just enough to leave her wanting more.

"Uh uh." she said shaking her head and pulling him in even closer to her kissing him hard.

"Now that was a goodbye kiss." she stated releasing him.

"No, that was a "you're never escaping from me kiss"." he stated.

"Well then I better run. You better be here at 3:30 to pick me up." she said.

"Why 3:30? I thought you were out at 3." he wondered.

"Because I have decided to rejoin the cheerleading squad. I figured I needed something easy and fun while life was so not easy and fun all the time. Especially with all the doppelganger and Klaus drama." she said.

"Oooh, I got my own hot little cheerleader." Damon said smiling wickedly.

"You do. Caroline convinced me to rejoin the squad." she said.

"Vampire Barbie is back on the squad? And she hasn't torn one of the girls hearts out yet?" he wondered aloud.

"No. Tyler is very good at calming her down." Elena said disapprovingly at the turn the conversation had taken.

"Ok. I guess I better let you go, as the bell rang a couple minutes ago." he stated turning towards the people all running to their classes.

"Right. I'll see you after school." she said running after the other students heading to their classes. Damon turned to get back into his car, but stopped when he seen Stefan emerging from the woods. He knew there was something going on with him, but he had no idea what it was. It was an odd feeling but Damon was worried about his brother. He honestly didn't think that Klaus just let him go, he had to be using Stefan for something. He opted to keep a close eye on Stefan today, as he knew something was up.

Elena hurried to her class and sat in her desk before the teacher began taking attendance.

"Where were you this morning?" Bonnie whispered from across the aisle.

"Kissing Damon." was all Elena answered.

"Nice." Caroline shot in from Elena's other side.

"He is a really good kisser." Elena acknowledged.

"I know." Caroline said, before catching her mistake. " Sorry Elena. When I kissed him he was completely evil. Probably a lot different now." she said brushing it off.

"He is. He's an amazing boyfriend. And he helped tons the other night when I seen something I never want to see again." she said looking squarely at Bonnie as she said it.

"I said I was sorry." Bonnie exclaimed.

"What happened? What don't I know?" Caroline demanded, frustrated at being left out.

"I walked into the house last night and Bonnie and Jeremy were going at it on the couch." she said glaring at Bonnie.

"Oh." Caroline said stopping the conversation when the teacher came by to reprimand them. The girls all muttered a "I'm sorry" before focusing on what the teacher was saying at the front.

Lunch came around and Damon parked his car inconspicuously where he could see Stefan appear. When Stefan appeared, and made his way into the woods Damon quietly got out of the car and followed him. He didn't know what he was looking for, and had no idea of what he was going to find, but still he followed him. He kept a safe distance from Stefan, just enough so he could still hear him. When he heard Stefan stop, he scaled a tree so he could watch them.

"I hate climbing trees." he muttered quietly to himself. His eyes widened when he saw Stefan stop a few feet from Klaus.

"Stefan, have you neutralized the threat yet?" he asked.

"No, master." he said loyally.

"Are you planning on it? Or are you trying to find something that will hurt it before you kill it?" Klaus asked intent on finding out Stefan's plan.

"I have the perfect way to hurt him. I know just what to do, master." he said.

"Good. Don't take too long, I hate being kept waiting." he noted. "Yes master." he said bowing slightly.

"Meet me here again tomorrow. I hope you will have some news for me by then." Klaus said beginning to walk away.

"Don't worry master. I plan to begin my plan tonight. I promise you, tomorrow the plan will be in action and there will be no one to stop you." he said.

"Good. I hope you use the troops that I assigned you to your advantage. We don't want any mistakes." Klaus said before disappearing.

Damon watched from the tree, he knew there was something going on with Stefan, but he didn't know it was this bad. Stefan was working for Klaus. He didn't know how to approach him about it, so he chose to wait until an opportunity came up. After Stefan was gone, Damon jumped from the tree and made his way back to his car.

When the final bell rang, Elena gathered her books and went out to meet Caroline. On her way, Stefan intercepted her.

"Elena, we need to talk." he said.

"Yes, we do Stefan. But I have cheerleading practice to get to. Can we do this later?" she asked.

"No, its important. We need to talk now Elena." he said firmly.

"Alright. Just let me tell Caroline that I wont be at practice tonight." she said.

"Fine. Just hurry. It's important." he said firmly. It was odd, this Stefan, created a cold feeling in her stomach. A feeling she discerned at fear, she just wasn't sure how she could be afraid of Stefan. She ran over to where Caroline was waiting and stopped in front of her.

"Elena, you made it." she said.

"Yeah. But I cant be here today. Stefan wants to talk and I figure its as good as time as any to tell him the truth you know." she said.

"Fine you can skip today, but you are going to make it up to me." she said firmly.

"Thanks Care." she said jogging away from her.

"Good luck." she called after her friend.

Damon sat at home, and pondered what Stefan and Klaus had discussed. What needed to be neutralized? How was Stefan going to neutralize this person? He had assumed it was someone who could end up being a nuisance to Klaus. Damon knew he was at the top of that list, and he was proud of it. Could it be possible that Klaus had released Stefan in order to kill him? It sounded very possible, and Damon felt in the pit of his stomach that that was the answer. But what could possibly be taken away from Damon that would render him useless? Make him unwilling to fight? Make him an easy target? There was only one answer to that. Elena. Damon vowed to keep her close to him for as long as necessary. Because she was the one thing he wasn't willing to lose.

"Let's go Elena." Stefan said.

"I thought you wanted to talk to me here." she said confused.

"No. we need to talk somewhere private." he said.

"Oh. But Damon's picking me up here in a little while." she said.

"Well, why don't you text him and tell him you're with me. He'll be fine with that. Then it'll save him a trip to the school." he suggested, having no idea that Damon knew his plan.

"Ok." she said typing out a quick message to Damon.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she grew to not recognize her surroundings.

"Somewhere quiet." he said as he administered a syringe and shot a sedative into her body, making her fall to the ground.

At 3:20 Damon got in his car to go pick up Elena. He wanted to be there early in case Stefan tried anything. When he arrived he got out of the car and went to where the cheerleaders were practicing. As he walked his phone beeped, signalling that he had a missed message. Opening the message he panicked.

_Hey its me. Just talking to Stefan, so he said he'd drive me home, to save you a trip. I love you. I'll see you later._

_Damon rushed over to Caroline, whose eyes widened at the look of panic on his face. _

"_Damon, what's wrong?" she asked, knowing only one thing that could make him look like that. _

"_Have you seen Elena? Do you know where she is?" he demanded. _

"_No. She said she needed to talk to Stefan. So she took today's practice off. I don't know where they went." she explained, unhinged at the terror in Damon's eyes. _

"_Stefan is working for Klaus. He wants me dead. But he doesn't want me to fight with the risk of hurting his precious tool Stefan, so he needs to hurt me before that. They have Elena. Stefan is going to kill her. I need to find them." he said panicking. _

"_Oh my God." Caroline said fear taking over her body as well. _


	7. Chapter 7

Elena woke up in a dark and dingy space that looked like a cellar in one of those old movies. She was groggy and as she saw Stefan standing across the room with an evil grin on his face did she remember why.

"You drugged me." she stated her voice thick.

"I needed to get you down here and all tied up darling. I couldn't do that if you were fighting." he stated coldly.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked

"There's a couple reasons. I'll start at the top, first I am working for Klaus. And you may ask why I'm working for Klaus. The answer to that question is conveniently the second item on my list of reasons why I'm doing this. You are with Damon." he stated taking several steps towards her.

"How- how did you know?" she wondered.

"I'm not stupid Elena. It's obvious you know. And because that day he took you away for an entire day, I was parked outside with Klaus. And I seen you kiss him. I seen you invite him in and I heard you tell him you loved him. That was when it clicked. It had always been Damon. And I began hating you and him. And I agreed to kill you guys for Klaus" he said his voice rising with every word he said.

"I'm sorry Stefan." she said Elena crying.

"You're sorry now Elena. How sorry were you when you were busy falling in love with my brother while I was with Klaus. I saved his life and this is how he repaid me? By stealing you from me. Or maybe its your fault. Maybe since I wasn't here anymore, you decided to try out the other Salvatore and decide which was better." he yelled.

"I'm really sorry Stefan. I never wanted my relationship with Damon to hurt you. I really did love you." she begged.

"I'm sure you did." he said coldly.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked.

"Not yet. Not yet. You're just a pawn in my plan to kill Damon for know. I know he loves you and he would do anything for you. Therefore, I know he will do whatever it takes to get to you and save your life. And that's just what I'm counting on. He'll come here, and I will brutally murder him. And you will watch. Then I will kill you as well." he explained his plan.

"Don't kill Damon. Please. Stefan you are better than this. You are." she begged, trying to save Damon's life more than her own.

Damon paced his living room while Caroline, Tyler and Bonnie strategize. Damon didn't have the patience, he just wanted to find her. He needed to find her. He figured having Tyler around wasn't a bad idea, at the very least he was a werewolf and one extra fighter is always a good thing. He needed to save Elena. Bonnie sat off to the side and performed a tracking spell on Elena, using the hair from her brush.

"I found her." she said.

"Good. Can we leave now?" he asked.

"We should plan. We don't know what Stefan has planned against you. It's not safe Damon." Caroline said.

"what's going on in here?" Jeremy asked when he walked in the front door. He went to stand beside Bonnie.

"Why do you have Elena's hair brush?" he asked.

"Stefan is evil. He's working for Klaus. And he has Elena. We need to save her." Damon explained.

"Stefan has Elena. Oh my God we need to save her." Jeremy said panicking.

"We have to save her. You have to stay here." Damon said firmly.

"What? Why? No I'm coming with you. She's my sister." he said firmly.

"Exactly. And we don't need you getting hurt there Jer." Bonnie assured her boyfriend.

"Are you going?" he asked. "Yes, but-" she started.

"No. If you're going. I'm going." he said.

"Jer, I'm a witch. I can use magic to neutralize opponents. I need to be there." she tried explaining.

"I am coming, and you cant do anything to stop me." he said not budging.

"Fine. Come. But if you die I am not taking any blame for this." Damon said growing angry.

"Fine. I think we should call Alaric. He may be able to help." Jeremy suggested.

"That is a good plan." Caroline affirmed. They didn't need to call him, as he walked in the house a couple minutes later.

"Ric, we need your help." Jeremy called from the living room where everyone was convened.

"What's wrong?" he asked tiredly.

"Elena has been kidnapped by Stefan, who is working for Klaus." he explained.

"My God." Alaric said. No one noticed Damon write down a map of how to get to Elena and leave the house quietly.

Damon drove down the highway at way above the posted speed limit. He was glad there seemed to be no police men patrolling the highway that day, as he didn't really have the patience to compel him. The map was easy to follow and Damon continued his journey to find Elena. For the first time in his entire existence, Damon prayed. He prayed to God that Elena would be alright. She was entirely innocent in all of this and definitely didn't deserve to die. The hard part was that he wasn't sure he would be able to kill Stefan. He threatened to do it so many times in the past, but now to actually contemplate doing it. He wasn't sure he could. Although it was Elena he was torturing, he was sure he could do anything if it was to save Elena.

Elena looked around the room as Stefan convened with a vampire standing by the door. She couldn't hear what they were saying, as much as she tried. Grinning at her, Stefan came back over.

"How are you feeling Elena?" he asked. Instead of answering she opted to glare in his face.

"I hate you." she stated.

"That didn't exactly answer my question. But oh well. Soon you will be dead and so will Damon." he said chuckling.

"Don't you dare hurt him. Don't you dare hurt Damon." she shouted.

"I will hurt whomever I please." he stared with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Damon will kill you. I swear to you, you couldn't kill Damon even if you tried." she spoke with venom in her voice. Stefan slapped her hard across the face successfully knocking her out again. Stefan nodded his head and moved back to talk with the vampire guarding the door.

Damon pulled up in front of the abandoned house, and was immediately surrounded with vampires. He instinctively started fighting his way out of the situation but knew the effort was futile. He could feel the wooden bullets entering his body and he screamed. The pain was intense and soon enough he just blacked out.

"I cant believe he just left. Now we have no idea if he is still alive or not. Damon is so irresponsible." Bonnie shouted.

"We should get going. Come on I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. We all knew he was going to run eventually." Caroline defended.

"I would've done the same thing if it were Caroline in the same situation." Tyler defended Damon.

"I would too, if it were you Bonnie in that situation." Jeremy said.

"fine. But that doesn't mean its not insane. I mean think about it. We have no idea how many vampires are waiting over there for him." Bonnie argued.

"We don't. and I hope he's okay." Caroline said as she stood up.

"We need to go." Alaric said standing in the doorway armed with many anti vampire weapons.

Damon awoke laying in the middle of the floor. He seen Stefan leaning over him.

"Hello brother." Stefan said when Damon opened his eyes.

"Stefan. Where's Elena?" he demanded.

"She's safe for now. She's going to really enjoy watching me kill you. She just doesn't know it yet." Stefan taunted.

"You're really going to hand your life over to Klaus? That's weak man." Damon tried taunting.

"You think Klaus is the only reason I'm doing this? You honestly think that?" Stefan asked teasingly.

"Yeah I do. I overheard you and Klaus talking at lunch time today. I know you want me dead so I'm not in the way of his plans anymore." Damon said.

"Very astute. But you're only half right. I'm here for my own personal vendetta as well brother. I am going to kill you for stealing Elena from me." he said.

"I'm not going to apologize. But release her right now." Damon demanded.

"Are you kidding? That girl has some fire in her. I want to keep that contained." Stefan said. Damon was weak from the attack from the other vampires but he stood up to face Stefan.

"release Elena, and I wont kill you." he said firmly.

"You wont kill me?" Stefan laughed. He glanced over Stefan's shoulder and seen Elena moving. He rushed around Stefan and went to her side.

"Elena, are you okay?" he asked placing his hand on her face.

"Damon, you're here." she said.

"I'm here. I'm going to save you." he said as his hands went to the ropes on her hand. He hoped that Stefan had enough goodness left in him to release Elena. She didn't deserve this. While untying Elena, Stefan approached from behind Damon with a wooden stake.

"Damon look out." Elena shouted. It was too late, the stake went right through Damon's back, through his chest. He collapsed into the floor clutching his chest. Elena immediately broke down and started thrashing against the chair.

"Damon." she shouted with tears rolling down her face. Stefan approached Damon's prone body knowing he was still alive. He positioned another stake just above his heart and prepared to end Damon's life. He was about to shove the stake through his heart when a small body collided with him causing him to drop the stake. He knew immediately it was Elena.

"You really want to die don't you?" he asked rhetorically. He threw her off of him and went to where Elena was lying.

"I changed my mind. Maybe I will kill you now." he said. Elena cried as she looked at Damon lying prone on the ground. She prayed he would be okay. She loved him more than life. It didn't look good for him though. His skin was paler than usual.

"Stefan. Stefan, he's your brother. How could you do that?" she asked hoping for him to get distracted enough.

"It was easy. We weren't brothers. He ended that when he stole you from me. This is all your fault. It's your fault if Damon dies. It's your fault if you die. You should've thought of this before you climbed into bed with my brother." he said harshly.

"I love him Stefan" she said hoping there still some semblance of the guy she used to care about inside of him somewhere.

"well too bad. He's gonna die, and so are you." he said before picking her up and willing his fangs to extend. Just before biting her Stefan crumbled to the ground. Elena looked up to see Jeremy holding a vervain dart gun.

"Elena, are you okay?" he asked rushing over to her.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?" she asked falling into his hug.

"I came with, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler and Alaric. We all needed to save you." he said.

"Where are the others?" she asked fearful.

"Just finishing off the other vampires. They didn't know I came in here. But I needed to find you." he said hugging her.

"Thank you." she said crying into his shoulder. Caroline, Bonnie and Alaric all came in to stand behind Jeremy. Elena moved to hug Caroline and Bonnie.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked.

"I am now. You guys saved my life." she said.

"No Jeremy saved your life. It was risky but he did it." Caroline said.

"Thank you for saving us." she said. At the thought of Damon she stumbled over to where he laid. "Elena, where is Stefan?' he asked weakly.

"Jeremy shot him with a vervain dart." Elena said

"Is he dead?" Damon asked.

"No. We couldn't kill him. He's your brother." she said.

"you're gonna need to stay close to your friends. Stay away from Stefan. I wont be there to protect you." he said weakly but with conviction.

"You're going to live Damon. I promise you that." she said forcefully.

"No I'm not. It's time for me to go." he said. Bonnie nudged everyone, signalling that they should leave Elena and Damon alone. They turned to take Stefan with them, when they noticed he was gone. Knowing he would be going to lie low for a while they left the room.

"You're not going to die. I wont let you. I'll let you drink my blood." she begged.

"I wont take blood from you. I cant." he said.

"Why? I'm offering it to you?" she begged.

"Because I love you, and I wont hurt you." he explained.

"I'm offering because I love you. The only way you could hurt me right now is not taking the blood. Please Damon." she begged.

"I would do anything for you Elena." he said his eyes closing.

"Please do this for me." she begged tears falling freely down her face.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes. I will not live in a world where you do not exist." she told him firmly.

"You need to take some of my blood to heal your wounds too." he told her as firmly as he could.

"Alright, after you're a little more healed. I love you Damon." she said.

"I know. I love you too." he said taking her out stretched hand and biting into her wrist. Elena gasped at first but soon the pain subsided and it was replaced with a strange sensation that wasn't unpleasant. When he had enough, he released her arm and brought his own arm to his wrist and bit into it, before offering it to Elena. She took his arm and drank from him. She could feel her cuts and bruises healing. Damon laid flat on the ground staring up at her.

"Are you gonna be alright?" he asked softly.

"I will. How about you?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. I can feel my strength returning." he said.

"Good. Don't ever die on me. I couldn't live in a world without you. I'm lost without you." she said burying her face in his shirt.

"Shh." he soothed her wrapping his arm around her.

"I love you so much Damon." she whispered into his shirt.

"I love you too." he said letting her cry out all her tears.


	8. Chapter 8

Stefan sat alone in the forest. He was depressed beyond all reason. He didn't know why he let Klaus get to him. At the moment he didn't even know if Damon was alive and it gave him a sense of deep grief. He could've killed his own brother. Stefan knew Damon, and there was a very slim chance he would've taken Elena's blood to heal himself. And the blood was the only way he could have survived that attack. Therefore there was a very good chance that Stefan killed his own brother. He hated himself immensely for what he did. He wanted to come home. He wanted to forget everything that happened. He to take everything back. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands, not sure what to do. Clasping his hands in front of him he prayed. He prayed for the chance to make things right. He prayed to be forgiven for his sins. Not just by Damon, but by Elena too. And he prayed that somehow she would realize that she was meant to be with him, not Damon. But if losing Elena forever to Damon was to be his punishment, he would take it willingly, because at least regardless of who she was with, she would be protected. He saw that with the way that Damon thought only of her safety while she was imprisoned and many other things before that. Stefan continued to pray until his strength was gone. He prayed until he had nothing left.

"Are you sure you want to go to school today? You've been through a lot lately." Damon said as he followed Elena around her house while she gathered up her school belongings.

"Yes Damon I do. I thought I explained this already. I need to get back to real life. It's time. " she said growing irritated.

"I know that. But Stefan is still out there. I don't want you to get hurt." he said.

"Stefan is still out there. I know that. But I still need to start living again. I hate being cooped up like this. It's been a week Damon. I need to get back to life." she begged.

"Elena, cant you take another couple days off? Please." he asked.

"No. I'm going to school. I need to. This house is making me go stir crazy." she said.

"Fine then go to the boarding house. Then you wont be stir crazy anymore." he suggested.

"Damon, I am going to school." she said finally.

"Fine." he gave in unhappily. She nodded and continued gathering her stuff.

"You can drive me though if that will make you feel better. At least then you can see me arrive at school where I will be perfectly safe." she suggested.

"You bet I'm driving you to school." he said leaving no room for argument. She followed him out to his car and climbed in the open passenger seat. She was tired of his need to always protect her. At some point she just needed to live her life without the fear of Klaus or anything else hovering over her. He sat silently beside her as he drove her to school.

"I will be here at 3 sharp waiting for you. " he said firmly.

"Relax Damon. Nothing is going to happen here. Stefan is in hiding or something and Klaus wont attack out in the open." she insisted.

"Just be careful. Don't go anywhere alone." he begged. Elena huffed and got out of the car sick and tired of being thought of as a fragile porcelain doll all the time. Knowing she was mad he climbed out of the other side and went around to where she was standing.

"Look I'm sorry I'm being so controlling. It's only because I love you. And I want to keep you safe. I'm sorry that life doesn't feel normal to you right now. But I cant lose you." he said placing his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him.

"I know Damon." she said quietly.

"Will you please help me then? Don't do anything reckless and be careful. I promise you I will try to make your life normal. I love you so much, and it was so much easier when we had Stefan, because then there were two of us to watch you. And your life could remain more normal." he said.

"You're perfect Damon. I've never felt safer than when I've been with you. I feel even safer now, after what happened and how you came by yourself to save my life. I'm sorry I've been so stubborn and resistant." she apologized.

"You're forgiven, mainly because I love you so much. The way you've been acting has been understandable. And I'll make it up to you, I promise. We'll go out and do something fun tonight. Just you and me. We haven't had an actual date since I took you to the cave." he said.

"That sounds perfect." she said smiling at him.

"Good, now kiss me so I can go home and wait miserably until you get out" he said. She obliged and kissed him softly.

"I'll see you later." she said kissing him once more.

"You sure will. I'll come by at lunch to check in." he said.

"That's not necessary. Keep in mind I'm gonna eat lunch with Caroline and Tyler, and Jeremy and Bonnie. They'll be able to protect me." she said smiling at him.

"Fine. I'll see you at 3." he said.

"Better. But now I have to go, as the bell rang a couple minutes ago." she said reaching up and kissing him once again before running towards the school.

"Bye." he called after her before climbing into his car and focusing his hearing around him. He had chosen to stay for a while to make sure nothing happened.

Elena got to her class just after the late bell rang.

"Miss Gilbert. First you miss a week of school without a note from a guardian. And then you're late on your first day back." her math teacher said glaring at her.

"Sorry." she said going to her seat.

"What about that note Miss Gilbert. I need a note from your parents or guardians excusing your absence." he said.

"I understand that you're new around here and all. But I don't have parents. They died in a car accident." Elena said.

"Well what about a guardian? You have to have a guardian." he demanded. At the thought of Jenna, Elena teared up slightly.

"Up until a while back my aunt Jenna was my guardian. But we lost her too recently." she said.

"Then who are you living with?" the teacher demanded.

"I don't have a guardian right now. So I guess they'll just be unexcused absences." she said sitting down.

"Good, now that that is taken care of. Do explain why you were late to my class." he demanded.

"I got here late, end of story." she answered, already tired of this teacher. Her argument with Damon earlier had really tested her limits for the day and she was quickly losing patience.

"That's not true. She was outside making out with some guy who's not Stefan Salvatore." Megan, a blonde girl in her class stated.

"Ah the plot thickens." the teacher said.

"Can we discuss this after class? And start learning some math." she asked.

"Elena is right. Open you're text books to page 232." he instructed.

The class dragged on, Elena was looking forward to next period as it was her free period. There would be no jerk teacher ruining her day and making her remember that she currently had no one. That was a lie though. She had Bonnie, Caroline and Jeremy. But most of all she had Damon, and he always made anything bad that happened to her better. When the bell finally rang everyone got up and started to file out.

"Miss Gilbert you need to stay for a moment. We need to talk about your behaviour issues." the teacher stated. Megan, delayed leaving the class and put her books away extremely slowly. She seemed to be enjoying Elena being in trouble, and Elena wasn't even sure why Megan hated her so much. It was probably some feeble high school drama that Elena really didn't want to know about.

"Now Elena, missing a week of school was unacceptable. You can still get off though, if you get a doctors note proving you were sick then I'll let you off. But being late for my class because you were fraternizing with some guy outside the school was unacceptable." he lectured.

"Yeah, especially when the guy isn't even your boyfriend." Megan sneered. Elena didn't say anything. She didn't have anything to say, her already pretty bad day was getting worse and worse by the second.

"I have a note excusing Elena's absences." a voice at the door that Elena immediately recognized as Alaric said.

"And how is this legitimate Alaric?" the teacher asked.

"Because I am the only guardian that Elena and Jeremy have at the moment. And I intend to be just that. I was planning on marrying their aunt before she died." he confessed.

"Fine I will accept this. But the lateness had better not become a habit. I don't care how hot the guy your kissing is." he said. Alaric looked at her with a look consisting of curiosity and confusion. Megan stalked out of the room angry that Elena didn't get in more trouble. Elena smiled at Alaric and he smiled back.

The rest of the day went better. Elena was counting down the moments until she could see Damon again. This was the first day since the attack that they hadn't spent every moment together. And she missed him like crazy. When the final bell finally rang Elena went to her locker and then went outside to meet with Damon. When she got outside she stopped in her tracks and literally saw red. She saw Megan flirting with Damon.

Damon pulled up in front of the school at the time he promised he would. When he parked and went to lean up against the car some blonde girl came up to him.

"Hey, I'm Megan. And who might you be?" she asked huskily.

"Damon." he answered uninterestedly.

"Damon, now that is a sexy name. I like guys with sexy names." she said stepping closer to him.

" I know it is. But I'm not interested." he said bluntly.

"Come on. You know you're interested." she flirted.

"Believe me I'm not. What is there for me to be interested in. You're boring personality? Your fake breasts? You're fake tan? Fake nose? Fake everything else." he said gesturing to her.

"I like it when you're cruel." she flirted and Damon rolled his eyes.

"You're gonna see cruel." Elena said angrily walking up behind her.

"Hello Elena." Megan said in a sugary sweet voice trying to impress Damon.

"Why don't you walk away right now, and you wont get your ass kicked." she threatened.

"Whoa. Elena calm down." he said weaving around Megan and going to wrap his arm around Elena's shoulder.

"Why should I calm down? She's literally looking at you like you're a piece of meat. And your not really doing anything about it.." she said grumpily.

"Because she has nothing on you." he said soothingly. Megan snorted and started laughing uncontrollably. "Not that I don't love all the attention because I do. You are nowhere in the same stratosphere as Elena. She is better in every way than you. You would be one of those girls that -before I was lucky enough to be in a relationship with Elena,- that I would have had for one night only." he said harshly while wrapping one arm tightly around Elena's waist.

"So I would suggest you leave my boyfriend alone." she said angrily. Damon smiled at Elena and stepped back, opening the passenger door for her.

"Miss Elena." he said theatrically.

"But you're not her boyfriend. She's cheating on Stefan Salvatore with you. You should have seen how in love they are." Megan cried frantically. Damon started laughing uncontrollably.

"Stefan is my brother, and I was there when they broke up. No one is going to buy that story." he said still laughing. Megan looked on dejected as Elena climbed in the waiting door and Damon shut it behind her. Megan vowed that someday somehow she would get Damon from Elena. It wasn't so much that she wanted Damon, it was entirely that she wanted something that the perfect Elena Gilbert had.

Damon pulled away from the school still laughing under his breath.

"I find it funny that you got so possessive over me. That was awesome." he said laughing.

"You're my property. I don't share well." she said smirking at him.

"I'm your property. I kinda like the sound of that. I've never been owned before." he said.

"Well now you are. You belong to me." she said possessively while reaching across to take his hand in hers.

"Good, I hope I always belong to you." he said smiling at her.

"You will. So I was thinking about tonight. Don't be mad, but I was thinking we could just have a nice quiet night at your place instead of going out." she suggested.

"Actually that sounds perfect. Let's do that." he said grinning at her. When they arrived after picking up takeout from Elena's favourite restaurant, he helped her do her missed schoolwork. History homework was so easy when you were dating someone who lived through most of it and prided himself on being an encyclopaedia. All her homework was done in under an hour and after he turned on a movie and they cuddled up on the couch.

"Lets always be like this." she said softly knowing he'd hear.

"We will. The way I feel about you will never change. It'll only grow stronger." he said kissing her temple. She sighed and leaned into his embrace. A few minutes later Damon stiffened and Elena saw why. Stefan walked into the house and he stared straight at them.


	9. Chapter 9

hope you enjoy the chapters. i dont know when they will be updated again. i still dont have internet. only for a couple days while im away.

* * *

><p>"I suggest you leave the way you entered right now." Damon threatened upon seeing Stefan enter the room. Elena cowered into Damon's side and Damon stood up and kept Elena behind him.<p>

"Damon, you're alive." Stefan said with real emotion leaking through his voice.

"Why do you care? You're the one who tried to kill me." Damon demanded.

"I'm so sorry Damon. I should never have let Klaus get to me. I have never felt like this before. I hate myself." he begged.

"It's a good fit, because we hate you too." Damon said coldly.

"I want to help you defeat Klaus. Please Damon." he begged.

"This is really pathetic Stefan. I don't want to see you on your knees begging for forgiveness. If you want to be forgiven, you're gonna have to earn it." Damon said.

"How do I do that?" Stefan said standing up from his position on his knees on the floor.

"You need to find a way. But until that moment you can stay in the house, but you stay away from Elena." Damon threatened.

"You're letting me stay?" Stefan questioned.

"Yes only because on some level I do think you're telling the truth. But I do not trust you." Damon said finally. Stefan merely nodded and sat down on a chair in the corner of the room, as far from Damon and Elena as he could possibly get. Stefan watched as Elena leaned into Damon's side and he put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. The entire time he held Elena, Damon kept a suspicious watchful eye on Stefan.

"I'm tired Damon." Elena said softly, her eyes closing while laying on his chest.

"Okay, do you want me to drive you home? Or do you want to stay here tonight?" he asked.

"I'll stay here. Just let me call Jeremy and let him know." she said yawning. He nodded and removed his arm from her shoulder allowing her to sit up. Sitting upright she pulled her phone from her pants pocket and pressed speed dial 2. Jeremy answered on the second ring "Elena?" he said worried.

"Hey Jer. I'm just calling to let you know I'm staying with Damon tonight. I'm too tired to come home. I'll just see you at school tomorrow morning." she said sleepily.

"Alright. Bonnie's here anyways. You probably don't want to come home based on previous experiences." he stated laughter evident in his voice.

"Ah right. I had nearly forgotten about that." she said wincing.

"Sorry. Anyways I'll see you tomorrow." he said.

"Goodnight Jer." she said before hanging up.

"What was with the look on your face when you were talking to Jeremy?" Damon asked curiously.

"You seriously don't listen in on my phone conversations?" she asked shocked.

"No, that would be invading your privacy." he said.

"Ah, and climbing in through my bedroom at various times isn't invading my privacy?" she asked laughing.

"No. Not really. Walking into your bedroom when in various states of undress is good for me." he said

"Ah. It all makes sense now. But anyways Bonnie is at my house, and Jeremy reminded me of the time that I walked in on them going at it in the living room." she said.

"Oh yes. That was the night you called me to "make you forget."" he said using finger quotes.

"I see you remember that for completely different reasons than I do." she joked.

"Well yeah. As should you. My kissing ability far surpasses anything that you want to forget. Its practically its own form of compulsion." he said.

"And you're ego continues to grow. It's amazing. You're like a behavioural scientists dream come true." she said joking back.

"I thought you were tired." he said.

"Ah you totally lost that exchange. It's not often that Damon Salvatore is at a loss for words." she said proud of herself.

"Yes there is. Honestly every time you kiss me I lose all train of thought. It is very distracting. But now lets get you up to bed." he said standing up and holding out his hand. She eagerly took it and followed him up the stairs.

"You lose all thought when you kiss me?" she questioned on the way up the stars.

"You seem surprised at that. You're kissing is unheard of in this world. I've never experienced anything like it. And you're all mine." he said proudly.

"That I am, and I always will be." she said honestly.

"Good." he said upon walking into the bedroom and shutting the door. He pulled her close to his body and kissed her hard. She gave herself in to the kiss until she couldn't breathe. Pulling away, she was breathing hard.

"You make me lose all train of thought too." she said before kissing him again.

"Let me find something for you to wear. Unless you want to sleep naked which is more than fine with me." he said his eyes twinkling. "Just find me something to wear. I am not sleeping in jeans." she said.

"Naked is the other alternative. I must say I kinda like that one." he said smirking.

"Damon…pants…now." she said mock glaring at him. He laughed at the expression on her face and went to his closet to find something for her to wear. He came out a couple minutes shirtless and clad in a pair of black pyjama pants, carrying another pair of pyjama pants and a t shirt that would be much too big.

"Here. The bathroom is free." he said moving to the bed and turning it down to ready it for bed. Gratefully she took the pants and shirt and went into the bathroom shutting it behind her. When she emerged Damon almost burst out laughing. The pants were way to long and she had them rolled up a few time so she wouldn't trip on them. The shirt was way too big and completely hid her figure.

"You look…cozy." he said trying to find a word.

"Oh I am. I may take these home with me, and wear them every night." she said.

"Or you could move in with me. Nothings keeping you at the other house anymore." he said as she crawled under the covers.

"Jeremy is." Elena said crawling under the covers.

"Well then have him move in too. There's too much loss in the other house. I'll even tolerate having Bonnie here occasionally." he said.

"You really want me to move in with you?" she asked looking at him.

"Yes. And it makes perfect sense too. You would be safer living here with me where I could always protect you. It makes the most sense." he said.

"You want me to move in because it makes sense?" she asked.

"Yeah." he said confused by the sudden change in her expression.

"Well its nice to know its not because you love me that you want me here." she said rolling over and turning off the lamp on her side of the bed. He could tell by the stiff set of her shoulders that she was still awake, but he knew she was too angry to talk to right now. Instead he left the room, shutting the door behind him. Of course he wanted her to live with him because of how he felt about her. That was the primary reason. She was so happy before he opened his mouth speaking of the practicality of the situation. He walked downstairs and grabbed himself a bag of blood pouring it into glass. Stefan was still sitting where Damon had left him when he had went upstairs. Stefan looked at him upon walking into the house.

"How is she?" Stefan asked worried.

"She's fine." Damon answered automatically.

" How can she be? I almost killed her." he said morosely.

"She's fine Stefan and I don't know if I buy this overly pouty version of you." Damon said.

"This is real Damon. I promise you that. And I know I cant convince you right now of my allegiance to you. But I will. I promise you that someday I will make what I did right. So what's Elena mad about?" he asked curiously.

"I guess this cant hurt anything. Did you listen in?" he asked.

"No. I don't want to invade yours and Elena's privacy. I just heard the tone of her voice and I know that tone. It means she's pissed." Stefan explained.

"Ah yes. The classic "Elena Gilbert I'm pissed look." I kinda screwed up when things were so great." he admitted.

"How did you screw up? You and Elena are in that honeymoon period." Stefan asked curiously.

"Well I asked her to move in with me. And I said she could bring Jeremy. She looked so happy. Then I went ahead and said something stupid." Damon explained.

"what did you say? What could you say that would make the Elena that's so happy and in love with you, be so mad at you? Stefan wondered.

"I told her that the situation would be more practical. That it would help me keep her safe. And she snapped. She now thinks that I don't want her living with me because of my feelings for her. She thinks I want her with me so I can protect her 24 hours a day." he explained.

"Well if you want my advice I'm willing to give it." Stefan offered.

"Sure. What can you tell me about her?" Damon asked.

"You have to apologize and tell her you love her. But don't wake her up to do it. She is overly cranky when woken from her sleep. Wait til tomorrow when you drive her to school." Stefan instructed.

"Thanks Stef. I'm going to bed. You know where everything is. Its your house too technically." Damon said walking up the stairs. "Not anymore." Stefan muttered as Damon left the room. Damon pretended not to hear him, he couldn't disagree with him on one level, but on another he could. When Damon first came back to town he was a ruthless killer, not as bad as Stefan is now, but he was still bad. Elena changed him. And he owed his life to her. He owed it to Stefan to help him. He walked into the dark bedroom and seen Elena's still frame in the bed. He sighed and climbed in beside her. He could get used to this, having her beside him at night. It made the big bed seem less empty and a lot warmer. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. She stiffened and moved further away on the bed knowing it was him. He sighed and laid down beside her. He really needed to talk to her in the morning. He couldn't stand having her so mad at him.

The next morning Elena woke up and got out of bed without alerting Damon. She went and took a quick shower and when she got out he wasn't in the bed anymore. She could smell pancakes and bacon downstairs and her stomach growled involuntarily. She was still mad at him and didn't want to feel grateful to him for anything. She walked downstairs and he was standing at the stove dressed in his usual dress code black jeans and a black t shirt.

"Good morning." he said walking over to her and kissing her softly. She didn't kiss him back signalling that she was still pissed at him. He handed her a plate with bacon, eggs and pancakes on it. She took it wordlessly and sat down at the table. He grabbed a plate and sat down next to her. Stefan walked in a couple minutes later, looking less tired than the night before.

"Breakfast is on the stove Stefan." Damon said.

"Thanks." he said taking a seat on the other end of the table not wanting to push them into associating with him. He didn't deserve their mercy and didn't expect it.

"You know you can join us down here." Damon said.

"Oh. I just didn't want to push you guys." he said softly.

"I assumed. I don't trust you Stefan. So don't forget that. But this is your house. And you live here. So live here." he said.

"Thank you Damon." Stefan said. Damon nodded and turned to Elena who was studiously ignoring him while eating her breakfast.

"You know you're going to have to talk to me eventually Elena." Damon said looking at her.

"No I don't. I choose to ignore you. In fact I think I may just walk to school today so I don't have to talk to you." she said snarkily.

"You're not walking to school. Klaus is still out there. In fact its time to go right now." he said standing up and grabbing his car keys. Silently Elena got up and followed him out of the house. They drove most of the way in silence, Damon trying to figure out what to say to the girl that somehow made his usual linguistic skills go out the window.

"Okay, you don't need to talk to me, but I am going to talk to you. So listen." he said.

"I don't want to talk to you." she stated angrily.

"Look what I said last night wasn't what I meant." he argued.

"Oh so my safety isn't the only reason you want me living with you?" she asked.

"It's one of the reasons. I didn't mention the other reason because I thought you already knew it. This just shows that you aren't as confident in us as I am." he said staring out the windshield.

"What reason didn't you mention?" she asked softening towards him.

"That I love you. And that I want you next to me for the rest of my life. I just thought you knew that already." he said softly.

"Is that why you invited Jeremy to live there too?" she asked.

"Yes. I know you love your brother, and I love you. So I figured it would make you happy to have him there. I want nothing more than for you to be happy. And if you could be happy living with me, then that would make me happy. that's all I want. You to be happy." he said.

"I know. And for the record I am happy. I don't know if I want to take that step yet, and I want to talk to Jeremy about it first. But I do love you, and I forgive you . But for the record whether I know it or not I still like to hear it." she said smiling over at him.

"Well then let me try this again. I love you Elena Gilbert. And I want you to live with me when your ready to take that step. And I want your brother to live there too if that will make you happy. I don't want you to have to live with the pain of losing yet another family member." he said.

"Ok. I more than forgive you. You are quite good with words." she stated.

"I know. But somehow when I'm talking to you, those abilities go out the window." he said pulling up in front of the school. Leaning over she kissed and hugged him quickly.

"I better go, because I really don't want another lecture on tardiness from my math teacher." she said.

" You got in trouble yesterday?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. My teacher is a dick. He took an instant dislike to me yesterday. Alaric rescued me from an almost suspension. Megan didn't help matters either." she said.

"I'll talk to the teacher later on." he said firmly.

"Damon its okay." she insisted.

"No its not. It wasn't your fault that you got here late yesterday." he said.

"Alright. Just don't hurt him." she said kissing him once more.

"Deal. I'll wait here until first period is over, then I'll come in and put your teacher in his place." he said.

"Fine. I'll see you later." she said getting out of the car and walking into the school. She made it to her class before the late bell rang.

"You choose to come to class on time today Miss Gilbert." the teacher said.

"Yes, Mr Miller I did." she said taking her seat across the aisle from Megan.

"So how's Damon doing?" Megan asked.

"don't you ask about him. He is mine." Elena said angrily.

"A little possessive are we?" she giggled sardonically. When the late bell rang and everyone was seated.

"So I guess Damon didn't tell you about how we made out yesterday before you got out," she said.

" No he didn't because it didn't happen. You are a lying bitch." Elena said

"Miss Gilbert. That has earned you an instant detention. Mr Saltzman will not get you out of this one." Mr Miller squealed. Elena sighed and Megan smirked in response. Elena sat silently for the rest of the class knowing that she wouldn't be partaking in the detention that Mr Miller had given her. The bell rang and Elena dutifully stayed in her seat waiting for Damon.

"I take it you're taking your detention now Miss Gilbert? As you have a free period." Mr Miller said disdainfully.

"I guess so." she said while glaring at Megan. Megan got up and walked over to Mr Miller.

"I'll see you at home daddy." she said smirking at Elena. Elena's mouth dropped, suddenly everything made sense. For whatever reason Megan wanted Damon, but Elena had Damon. Therefore Megan was going to have her daddy make Elena's life miserable as her other techniques didn't work. Megan Miller was Mr Millers daughter, and as long as she was in this class her life would be miserable. At least the silver lining was that she would often go home to Damon. Just as she thought of him he walked in the room, being trailed by Megan.

"Hi daddy, this is Damon Salvatore. The guy I was telling you about." she said.

"Whatever she told you about me, is false. I have nothing to do with your daughter. She is glaringly far away from being my type." Damon said harshly. Megan shrank back.

"Then what are you doing here Mr Salvatore?" Mr Miller asked tiredly.

"I am here to discuss the unfair treatment of Elena Gilbert." he said using his hand to gesture to her to come forward. She stepped close to Damon's side, and his arm reflexively went around her shoulders pulling her closer to him.

"And what would you like to discuss?" Mr Miller asked.

"Number one, this stupid detention that your slut of a daughter caused." Damon said with venom in his voice. Megan gasped at the tone in Damon's voice.

"Mr Salvatore I wont tolerate the way you spoke of my daughter." Mr Miller squealed.

"And I wont tolerate the way your daughter is speaking of my girlfriend." he said angrily. Damon could feel his temper rise.

"Here do you remember a teacher by the name of William Tanner?" Damon asked threateningly.

"I've heard of him. I've only been teaching here for a few months. Why do you mention him, he was brutally murdered by an animal." he said frightened.

"That "animal" that attacked him wasn't an animal. It was a vampire. In fact it was me. And I had no reason to hurt him he was just in the wrong place in the wrong time. You I have a dislike for, and no one would know what happened?" Damon whispered threateningly. The teacher gulped and smiled brightly at Elena.

"Miss Gilbert you are free to go." he said inserting a happy tone to mask the fear in his voice.

"Good choice Miller." Damon said patting his head in a condescending manner. He turned to Megan and stared at her.

"Now for you, if you leave Elena alone, then you wont join the ranks of William Tanner, Mason Lockwood, and many others." he threatened. Standing close to her father she nodded mutely. Damon mnodded and turned to leave.

"Oh just a second. I cant have you telling people about my little secret." he said turning around. He went to stand in front of them and started compelling them. "You will remember everything I said, but you will never speak of it. I want you to live in fear of me and of vampires but you will never tell anyone of why you're scared. And in your fear you will realize what will happen if you ever be unjust to Elena ever again. I am capable of things neither of you want to know." he said before breaking the spell.

"Thank you Damon." she whispered.

"Lets get out of here." he said leading her to his car.

"You do know that the school day isn't over yet right?" she asked.

"Oh I know, but I figured you have an hour, so we could have some fun in the car before you go back in." he said smirking. Willingly Elena followed him to the car, eager to repay him for what he did for her in there.


	10. Chapter 10

not my best chapter, but i hope you like it regardless. let me know what you think. Reviews are so important to a writer, as we love to know how we are doing in the eyes of our readers. Thank you for continuing to read the story, and for sticking with it. Hope you enjoy it.

PS i own nothing. Not Damon. Not Elena. Not Damon. Not Damon. :(

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><p>"Now keep in mind that I don't want you threatening and compelling someone every time they're unjust." Elena informed Damon as she climbed out of the car after they're impromptu make out session.<p>

"Fine. But that was much more fun than just talking to them. I like threatening people." he said.

"I'm sure you do. That's very Damon. But I should get back in there." she said.

"Ok. I'll pick you up after school." he said.

"Sounds good. I love you." she said.

"Love you too." he said. She walked into the school ready for the rest of the day of missing Damon.

Damon arrived at home and found Stefan sitting in the living room with a cup of blood.

"Well its good you're eating again." Damon said.

"I figured I'm not going to be much help to you if I die of thirst." Stefan said.

"That's true. Now we have to talk." Damon said taking a seat across from Stefan.

"what do you want to know?" Stefan asked eager to help.

"What was Klaus's plan?" Damon asked.

"He never told me much. All I knew was what I was supposed to be doing at the point in time. He was very secretive." Stefan explained.

"Well then tell me what you know." Damon instructed.

"He needs you dead. Apparently you are a problem. You have this way about you, and you are really the only protection Elena has. He figures if you are dead then Elena will come easy. And wont fight him." Stefan explained.

"Why does he want Elena?" Damon asked.

"He just wants her dead. He spent 500 years chasing Katherine, he wants to inflict all the pain he wanted to inflict on Katherine on Elena." he explained.

"And I need to be dead to do that." Damon clarified.

"You would protect her. And even Klaus believes that if the person you love is endangered, you will find the power and abilities in yourself to defeat him. And we have Bonnie, and we have Tyler, therefore we can get more werewolves. Bonnie can harness the power of the witches. You are a very real danger to Klaus." Stefan explained.

"What does Klaus want? He's already got the curse lifted. He has everything he wants." Damon asked confused.

"I honestly don't know what his final plan is. He didn't trust me enough to tell me." Stefan said. Damon nodded taking all the information in. He didn't find anything out that he didn't already know, but it was nice to know for sure.

"Thanks Stefan." Damon said standing up. Stefan nodded and leaned against the couch. All he wanted was for Damon to trust him again. He knew he had a long way to go yet though.

As promised Damon was there to pick Elena up from school.

"How was school?" he asked when she climbed in.

"The same. How was your day?" she asked.

"I talked to Stefan." he answered.

"Oh. Can you drive me home Damon? Jeremy wanted to have dinner tonight, and hang out." she said.

"Okay. It's good for you two to spend some time together." he said.

"Thanks. You can spend some one on one time with your brother then." Elena said.

"Oh joy." Damon said sarcastically. Elena giggled at the expression on his face.

"I cant believe your ditching me for your brother. I'm so much more fun." he said as expression of mutiny on his face. The way he drove it took no time for them to get to her house.

"I'll see you tomorrow." she said leaning over and kissing him.

"Maybe. You're ditching me. Maybe I'll ditch you tomorrow." he said.

"No you wont. If you ditch me tomorrow I'll decide that I don't want to kiss you anymore." she said.

"Have a good night." he said quickly. She laughed at the change in his position and climbed out of the car. Once she was in the house Damon drove away. Elena watched him leave out the front window and jumped when Jeremy walked in the front door.

"What's up?" he asked when he saw her jump.

"I was just acting like a corny in love girl. Watching my boyfriend drive away and missing him already." she said.

"Well there was a reason I wanted you home tonight. Last night when you were with Damon, grandma called the house." he said.

"What did she want?" Elena asked.

"She's coming down to see us. She heard about Jenna's "accident" and is coming to stay with us." he said.

"Damn it." Elena said.

"This is definitely going to put a dent in your plans with Damon." Jeremy said.

"It sure is. Why cant she just mind her own business. She wasn't here when mom and dad died, and didn't want us then. But now she all of a sudden wants in our lives. I don't want her here." Elena ranted.

"We don't have a choice. She'll be here tonight." Jeremy said.

"can I run to Damon's and stay there until she leaves?" she begged.

"Only if I can come too." he said. The conversation was ended when they heard the front door open and Grandma Sommers, walked in the front door.

"Elena, Jeremy come hug Gran." she said dropping her bags and holding her arms open. Reluctantly they walked into her arms and hugged her.

"I'm sorry for your loss." she said formally.

"We're fine." Elena said stepping back.

"But now things are going to change around here. Jenna was a lot more lax than I am. I have distinct rules and they are to be followed. Go sit at the table we all need to talk." Irene Sommers said.

"This is going to be fun." Elena muttered as she and Jeremy joined Irene at the table.

"Now you will have a strict 10pm curfew. And I will know who you're going out with at all times. And where you will be going. No staying the night at other peoples houses, especially people of the opposite sex. I don't care how long you've been dating. And I will be seriously judging the people you choose to date." Irene stated. Jeremy looked at Elena, there was no way she was going to be allowed to date Damon.

"This was fun grandma but I have somewhere to be." she said standing up, already sick of her grandma.

"Where are you off to?" Irene demanded.

'My boyfriends. Not that this isn't fun, but I'm sure I can have much more fun there." she said.

"I'm going to Bonnie's. I'll be back later." Jeremy followed Elena.

"you're leaving on my first night here? Well fine. Make sure you're home by curfew." she instructed.

"I'll drop you off on my way. There is no way we will be back by 10 though." she said.

"Sounds good to me. Damn, I miss Jenna." Jeremy said climbing in the car. Irene watched from the window as her grandkids pulled away.

"God I hate her." Elena said. Elena dropped Jeremy at Bonnie's, then drove to Damon's. She knocked on the door and Damon answered surprised to see her.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Escaping." she answered.

"From?" he asked.

"Grandma Sommers. She's coming to live with us until further notice. She is strict." Elena explained.

"Ah, I see. So I guess I'm going to be seeing less of you now huh?" he asked ushering her into the house.

"If grandma has anything to say about it. I have to be home by 10, like that's gonna happen." she said.

" well, my offer still stands. You can still bring Jeremy and move in with me." he suggested hopefully.

"I cant right now. It would be wrong on so many levels to just up and leave right after my grandma moves in." she said.

"That is true, and afterall she's one of the few family members you have left." he said.

"I know." Elena said collapsing into a comfy chair in his living room.

"How about this, I kinda want to meet Grandma Sommers. She cant be as bad as you think she is." he said.

"You want to meet her? Right now?" she asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" he said smiling.

"Okay, let me call Jeremy and as him if he wants to introduce Bonnie." she said. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialled her brothers number. He picked up on the first ring seeing her name pop up on the caller ID. Jeremy and Bonnie agreed, deciding that it was a good idea to introduce everyone now. They drove over together, picking Bonnie and Jeremy up on the way. The lights were on when they pulled up.

"The evil old woman is still awake." Jeremy noted.

"Figured she would." Elena said. Elena took Damon's hand and together the four walked into the house.

"Grandma its us." Elena called.

"You're early. I'm impressed." Irene said walking out from the living room. She stopped when she saw Damon and Bonnie in the doorway too.

"And you are." she said gesturing to Damon and Bonnie.

"Grandma, this is my girlfriend Bonnie Bennett." Jeremy said. Bonnie held out her hand to shake it, and Irene shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you." she said coolly.

"And this is my boyfriend Damon Salvatore. Damon this is my grandma Irene." she said. Damon held out his hand, already in his diplomatic mode. She took it and shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you." she said just as coolly as before.

"Now that the introductions have been done, Damon and I are going upstairs." Elena said taking Damon's hand and leading him to her room. Bonnie and Jeremy followed them but instead went into Jeremy's room and shut the door.

"That wasn't quite as bad as I expected." Elena said shutting her bedroom door. Damon went and laid in the centre of her bed and Elena joined him on the bed. She laid beside him, resting her head on his chest, he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her flush against his body.

"I wonder how lax grandma Sommer's rules are exactly?" Damon wondered, thinking out loud.

"Why?" Elena asked curiously.

"Oh, I just wanted to see if I could get away with this." he said before rolling over faster than humanly possible and hovering over her.

"Not likely." Elena said. She rested her head on his chest while he rubbed mindless shapes into the skin of her back where her shirt rode up. They were both happily with the silence until Damon's phone started ringing. He glanced at the caller ID and groaned.

"What can I do for you Stefan?" Damon asked grumpily.

"I was actually hoping you could come home. I had an idea that may help us defeat Klaus." Stefan said.

"You do?" Damon asked shocked.

"Yeah. So can you come home?" Stefan asked.

"I'll be right there." Damon said quickly hanging up the phone and turning to Elena.

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily.

"I have to go home. Stefan has a plan." he said unwinding her arms from around him.

"Should I come with you?" she asked.

"No. I'll just go. I'll see you tomorrow hopefully." he said.

"Hopefully?" she questioned.

"Yeah. I don't know what Stefan's plan is. Or what its going to entail. I'll call you when I know anything." he said. She nodded and kissed him quickly.

"Bye." he said jumping out of her window and speeding away in his car.

Damon got home as quick as he could and he walked in to find Stefan pacing the floor and vampire speed.

"Stop Stefan. What is your plan?" he demanded.

"You're not going to like this." Stefan said.

"Would you just tell me what it is." Damon demanded.

"Klaus texted me and asked where I was. He said he needs me and he cant continue with his plan until I am back. So I was thinking I rejoin him, and keep you posted on whatever he is planning. Then we can kill him together." he said.

"Stefan that is a stupid plan." Damon said.

"And you have something better? Come on you know its our best bet." Stefan said.

"And you can handle this again? You can handle all the human blood without going crazy?" Damon asked.

"I don't know. But regardless its still our best bet. You want to keep Elena safe more than anything right?" Stefan asked.

"Yes. Of course." Damon said nodding frantically.

"Then lets do this. This is her best bet." Stefan said firmly. Damon knew he was right, so he nodded minutely, still not liking the plan.

"Elena's not going to like this." Damon said.

"I know. don't tell her. Klaus has spies all over the place, spies that I don't even know about. If she tells someone about the plan and it gets back to Klaus then we're all dead." Stefan said.

"fine. What do you need me to do?" Damon asked.

" when I say to come, you have to come. When I get the information I need out of him, then we can kill him. don't tell Elena because you know how she is. She'll want to come, to protect you. You need to protect her. I'll text you when I get what I need out of him. We need to know how to kill him now that he's a hybrid. When I get that out of him, you get what we need and come. Then we kill him." Stefan said.

"And in the mean time don't say anything about this to Elena right?" Damon clarified.

"Exactly. That is paramount. Elena must not know. If necessary avoid her but don't tell her anything." Stefan said.

"Okay. This is odd, you telling me what to do in order to keep Elena safe." Damon said.

"I know. It's usually you." Stefan said.

"When are you leaving?" Damon asked.

"Right now. The sooner I get there the better." he said. Damon nodded and Stefan turned and left the house. He hated that he had to keep something like this from Elena but it was necessary. He had to protect her, and if he had to lie to her to do that, then that's what he would do. He wasn't afraid to hurt her feelings or anger her, if he had to do it to keep her safe, then he would.


	11. Chapter 11

Hope you like the update. Let me know what you think.

PS i own nothing.

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><p>The entire next day Elena waited around for Damon to call or even just appear. She sat upstairs in her room, waiting for him all day. After about five hours of silence she called his cell and it went straight to voicemail. For a second she wondered if something had happened, but she felt it didn't. Stefan was with them, and Klaus seemed to have vanished.<p>

"Elena, dinner time." her grandmother called. Elena sighed and walked downstairs where her grandma had set the table. She wasn't looking forward to spending the entire meal alone with her, but knew she didn't have an option. Jeremy was having dinner with Bonnie and had called to say he wouldn't be there. Where was Damon when she needed him?

Damon sat at home, ignoring each chime of his cell phone. He knew if he looked into Elena's deep brown eyes he would tell her everything. And he couldn't risk that. He couldn't risk her being in danger simply because she knew too much. He seen the missed call on his phone from her and frowned. He hated avoiding her, and he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid her forever. He knew eventually that she would get mad at his distance and come find him herself. He hoped that Stefan got what he needed quickly, because there was nothing Damon hated more than lying to Elena.

"So dear, that was certainly an interesting meeting with your boyfriend last night. For the record I think he's too old for you and that you shouldn't be dating him." she said coolly.

"And I think that its not really any of your concern." Elena said eating her food.

"As long as I am living here taking care of you, it is my concern. As long as you live under this roof, you are not to see him." Irene stated.

"And the last I checked, you aren't my mom and you're not my dad. And you're not Jenna, so that gives you no right to tell me what to do." Elena said.

"I am your legal guardian, and I will be until you are of age." Irene spit out.

"You know what Grandma, you weren't here when mom and dad died. You didn't care then. But now you do? Well guess what? I don't care now. I'm over it, I don't need you here. And I don't want you here." Elena said her anger taking over.

"Well if that's the way you really feel." Irene said standing up, genuine hurt radiating out of her eyes. Elena took in a deep breath before standing up.

"I have to go. I'll be back later." she said not able to look into Irene's eyes anymore. She needed to see her boyfriend and she needed him now.

Elena drove her car over to his house at almost a reckless speed. When she parked outside she seen lights on, signalling that he was around. Not bothering to knock she walked right into the house and slammed the door, her anger and indignation growing towards him.

"Damon where are you?" she demanded.

"What are you doing here?" he asked appearing from upstairs.

"That's a nice greeting Damon. I come to see you because I need you and you ask me what I want." she said.

"That's not how I meant it Elena. What's wrong?" he asked joining her in the foyer.

"Can we sit down?" she asked. He motioned for her to go into the parlour and she sank into an overstuffed chair.

"Where have you been all day?" she wondered.

"I've been busy." he lied.

"Doing what? You couldn't answer your phone?" she questioned her anger appearing again.

"I was busy Elena. Now what brought you over here, I don't have a lot of time." he said needing to get her out of his house before he confessed everything.

"You don't have a lot of time? I come over here, to talk to you about how crappy my day was. And you dot have the time. I needed my boyfriend." she said.

"Fine. Just tell me what's wrong." he urged sitting down on the coffee table across from her.

"I had a fight with my grandma." she said softly.

"That's all. Elena I really do have more pressing things to worry about other than you're drama with your grandma." he said.  
>" What do you have going on Damon?" she demanded.<p>

"Listen, I need for you to go home. I have too much to do, and you're just distracting me." he said.

"I'm just a distraction?" she muttered angrily.

"Right now. Yes. I'm sorry I know that sounds awful, but I have stuff to do. I cant be worrying about your feeble human drama." he said standing up.

"And to think I came over here because I needed your support. Stupid me. I wont be making that mistake again." she said standing up.

"And now you're pissed. Great." he said facing her.

"I have every right to be." she said.

"I know. I just have so much to do. I'll tell you what, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll pick you up from school and we'll go out. I promise." he said putting his hands on her shoulders, making her look at him.

"Are you sure you can fit it in your schedule?" she asked seething.

"Yes. Let me take you out." he said.

"Okay." she said smiling for the first time since entering the house. He sighed in relief, in order for this to work, he needs to make sure she's still talking to him. If she isn't speaking to him, then he'll never know when something goes wrong. It was going to be hard spending a whole evening with her, but he needed to do it. He loved her so much, and he hated lying to her. But it had to be done. She reached up and kissed him softly before leaving. She was still mad about their fight, but she felt better than she did before she left.

Once she arrived home, she went into the living room to find her grandma sitting there watching TV.

"Look I'm sorry grandma. But you cant tell me who I can or cant see." she said sitting opposite her on the couch.

"I'm just trying to protect you Elena. Someone has to." Irene said.

"I know and I love you for it. But I don't need you to. I need freedom." Elena explained.

"I will try. I'm just so set in my ways, that I don't know if I can change. So how was your night? You weren't gone for very long." she said concerned.

" Damon and I had a fight. He's keeping something from me." Elena said.

"That's a man for you, they always want to protect what they think is theirs." she said.

"He's just worried about me. He's always trying to protect me." she said.

"That's good though Elena." Irene said.

"I know. It's just I miss him when he goes like this. But he's going to make it up for me, he's taking me out tomorrow after school." she said smiling.

"So I take it you wont be home for dinner tomorrow night?" Irene asked.

"I wouldn't think so. He said he was planning a special night." she said.

"Alright." Irene said. Elena smiled at her grandma and decided to turn in for the night.

Damon paced the floor of the boarding house, waiting for word from Stefan. He had just left but Damon was worried. What if Klaus didn't believe him? Damon knew that was unlikely, after all it was Klaus that had texted Stefan. Damon hated taking it out on his relationship with Elena. Avoiding her wasn't exactly going to solve the problems, but his inability to lie to her didn't help matters. He needed to protect her at the same time as he was in a relationship with her. He couldn't lose her in either way.

Stefan walked into the abandoned warehouse intent on finding Klaus. Klaus materialized out of thin air standing before him with his arms crossed across his chest.

"You've returned." he said smiling.

"I have. You called. I'm with you for ten years. I owe you that much." he said.

"Come on Stefan, I don't want you to feel obligated to be here. You're my comrade Stefan. We have things to do. The doppelganger is supposed to be dead, but I'm sure I can work around that inconvenience." he said.

"Okay. So what do you want me to do?" Stefan asked, needing to get back to Damon.

"You are to go find me as many werewolves as you can find. I need them. It's time." he said.

"It's time for what?" Stefan asked.

"Time to make my army." he explained with an evil smirk on his face.

"Army? Of what?" he asked, needing whatever he could get.

"Hybrids of course." Klaus answered. Stefan nodded unsure of what else he could say. Klaus signalled that he should get moving and Stefan obliged. He rushed out of the warehouse and got far enough away so he could call Damon without Klaus hearing him.

Damon paced when he finally heard his phone ringing.

"Stefan." he said in greeting.

"Klaus is making a army of hybrids. That's his evil plan, and he thinks he can still do it with Elena alive. But you need to protect her Damon, make sure she knows nothing." he said.

"Where are you right now Stefan?" Damon asked.

"I'm scouring the woods for werewolves because Klaus needs them." he said.

"Do you need me?" he asked

"I don't like talking about this on the phone, if you could meet me, that would be great." he said.

"Ok, where are you?" he asked.

"Just outside of Atlanta. 20 minutes South." he said.

"Okay, I'll leave now." he said. They disconnected the call and Damon got in his car and left Mystic Falls immediately.

The next morning Elena woke up and got ready for school. She was happy because she was getting to spend some one on one time with her boyfriend. Without all the drama that surrounded their lives. She walked downstairs where Grandma was sitting with breakfast on the table.

"Want some breakfast?" she asked.

"Sure." Elena said sitting down and taking a couple of the pancakes that were on the table. Jeremy emerged a few minutes later and grabbed a small pile of pancakes.

"So you're going with your boyfriend this afternoon?" Irene clarified.

"Yeah. We really need this time together." she said.

"Okay, then I wont expect you for dinner. What about you Jeremy?" she asked.

"I'll be here. Bonnie is busy tonight." he said. When it was time to leave, Elena drove to school, secretly counting down the hours until her date with Damon.

Damon met Stefan outside of a forest. He seen him walking towards him.

"Damon, I'm happy you're here." he said.

"what's going on?" Damon demanded.

"Klaus is trying to make a hybrid army." Stefan said.

"I know Stefan. You said that on the phone last night." he said.

" I don't know what he wants to do with them, but knowing Klaus he wants to take over the world." Stefan said.  
>" And you don't think he's going to target Elena yet?" he asked.<p>

"I think she'll be safe. But I need you to keep an eye on her. I have a feeling he might want to kill her still." he said.

"You're probably right. But I can protect my girl, I better start going home." he said.

"Okay. I'll call you when I get more information." he said. Damon left the woods and got in his car and began the long drive back to Mystic Falls. He didn't get the point of coming all the way to Atlanta for Stefan to tell him the same thing he said to him on the phone. Damon looked at the clock on the dash of his car.

"Damn it." he said seeing the time, he was supposed to pick Elena up at school in 2 hours. Even at vampire speed he knew he would never get back to Mystic Falls in time. Stupid Stefan, and his stupid need to tell him things he already knew and making him come to Atlanta. He drove miles over the speed limit trying to make it back before Elena was royally pissed at him.

Elena waited outside the school for twenty minutes, she had already sent Jeremy on his way in her car. By this point she was getting angry, and she eventually just decided to walk home. She walked home and halfway home the rain started pouring. The rain only served to make her even angrier. Once she arrived home she slammed the door.

"Elena?" Jeremy and Irene asked hearing the door slam.

"Yeah." she said angrily.

"What's wrong? What happened to your date?" Irene asked walking out to see her rain soaked granddaughter.

"He ditched me." Elena said tossing her backpack on the floor and hanging her purse up.

"You could have called me to pick you up." Jeremy said.

"I didn't want to bug you. You were having dinner with Grandma." she said.

"Dinner is in the fridge if you want it." Irene said.

"Thanks." she said. She went into the kitchen and ate the meal that Irene had prepared before joining them in the living room. They all watched a movie in silence.

Damon got back into Mystic Falls and immediately drove over to Elena's house. He knew it was unlikely that she would even speak to him, so he aimed to be a normal boyfriend. He walked up the front walk and knocked on the door. He waited for a moment until someone finally opened the door.

Elena hearing the knock on the door she got up.

"I'll get it." she said walking over to the front door, still dressed in her rain soaked clothes. The others nodded turning back to the movie. She opened the door and seen Damon standing on the front step contrite. Instead of even acknowledging him, she just slammed the door back in his face, having nothing to say to him.


	12. Chapter 12

i hope you like the chapter. there arent many left in this story. I enjoyed writing the chapter. Let me know what you think. I love hearing you're opinions.

PS i own nothing.

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><p>"Come on Elena. Just open the door." Damon said knocking on the door again, after she slammed it in his face. She stood by the door for a second before rejoining Irene and Jeremy on the couch.<p>

"Damon?" Irene asked.

"Yep. Apparently he doesn't get the idea that i don't want to talk to him." she said knowing full well that he could hear everything she said.

"Don't you think you should give him a chance to explain?" Jeremy asked.

"No. There is no excuse for breaking a promise Jeremy. There's nothing he can say that can convince me to believe him." she said coldly. The three went back to watching the movie, with Elena trying hard to ignore Damon's presence on the other side of the door.

Damon paced the porch, fighting with his urge to just walk through the front door and explain everything to her. He knew that was a bad idea, because her knowing where he went could mean danger for her. There was no way in hell he would willingly put her in any sort of danger. He set about pacing the porch until she decided that she would open the door. He knew he didn't really deserve it, but he wanted the chance to at least partially explain where he was without actually telling her why he was there.

Elena was quickly growing distracted by Damon pacing back and forth across the porch. She could see him from the front window, and he was constantly picking up the pace. If Irene looked out he window, she might see him going at vampire speed. That would be hard to explain, but at that point she didn't really care. He ditched, her he deserved whatever he got. She finally got back into the movie, when he started knocking on the door again.

"Oh my God." she said, throwing her head against the back of the couch.

"Elena, come on open the door. Let me explain." he called.

"No." she shouted back, knowing he could hear.

"Come on Elena. You have to talk to me eventually, and i will stay out here all night until you do." he vowed. Elena sighed before turning back to the movie.

Damon eventually gave up on pacing and sat down on one of the chairs on either side of the front door. He could wait forever if that was what it took. He was a vampire, a few hours outside in the rain wouldn't do anything to him. He seen Bonnie pull up and run up the front walk.

"Damon. What are you doing out in the rain?" she wondered.

"Me and Elena had a fight. I'm here more or less begging for forgiveness." he said opting to tell the truth to the witch he knew wasn't too fond of him.

"Oh. I'm here for a movie night with Jeremy. He texted me a while ago." she said knocking on the door.

"Maybe they'll answer for you." he said.

"She wont lock you out forever." Bonnie said almost reassuringly. Moments later Elena opened the door.

"Bonnie, come on in. It's good to see you." she said hugging her friend, while studiously ignoring the repentent vampire on her porch. Bonnie gratefully walked into the house before going to sit next to Jeremy on the couch. Damon was starting to grow angry. She couldn't keep him locked out forever no matter how hard she tried. He decided that he would try once more, before he used more Damon-ish ways to get her to talk to him. He got up and knocked on the door.

"Elena, will you just see what he wants? He's going to break the door down with all his knocking at some point. Besides he's been out there for over an hour." Irene said. Elena sighed and walked over to the door, opening it slightly.

"Elena, let me explain." he said happy that she opened the door.

"I don't want to talk to you Damon. Can't you see that after an hour of sitting out here in the cold? Just go home. I'm trying to enjoy a movie." she said tiredly.

"You have to talk to me." he said.

"No i don't. I don't want to talk to you. So just leave." she said before shutting the door again. Elena rejoined her family on the couch, trying desperately to get into the movie, instead of thinking about her vampire boyfriend on the porch outside, trying to get her to talk to him.

Angrily Damon spun around and kicked a ceramic flower pot that was sitting on the steps.

"Damn it." he yelled before vampire speeding around the house. He got to Elena's bedroom window, and leaped through. One way or another she was going to talk to him. He paced her bedroom floor silently, not wanting to alert anyone downstairs of his presence. His phone vibrated in his pocket, showing a text from Stefan. He almost wanted to smash the phone, as all of his problems with Elena were all Stefan's fault.

"Damon, I've almost returned to Klaus with all the werewolves I could find. Still have no idea how to kill him." he texted.

"That's just great Stefan. Add that to my ever growing list of problems." he replied.

"You're the one with problems? I am the one who is doing the dirty work a psychotic hybrid." Stefan typed back.

"Look, all my problems right now are because of your hero plan. Elena is not talking to me at all, because i ditched her." Damon typed back angrily.

"Why the hell did you ditch her?" Stefan demanded.

"You texted, said you wanted to talk in person. I came, all the way to Atlanta to talk to you, thus missing a promised date with Elena." he typed back.

"I'm almost there. I have to go." Stefan said ending the conversation. Damon almost smashed his phone into a thousand little pieces in his anger, but didn't want anyone downstairs to know of his presence. Instead of pacing, he decided to sit down on the plush window seat, to await Elena. They were going to talk, whether she wanted to or not.

After a little while, Elena got up, and walked over to the front door to see if Damon was still there. To her utter astonishment he seemed to have left.

"Is he still there?" Irene asked.

"No he left. I guess after breaking the flower pot, he finally decided to do what i asked, and leave." she said.

"What happened Elena?" Jeremy asked, not used to seeing them fight like that.

"He told me yesterday that we would spend this evening together. Just the two of us. He told me he would pick me up at school. But then he didn't even bother to show up. No call. No text message. Nothing, until he showed up on the porch demanding that I speak to him." she said angrily.

"Oh. Don't you think that maybe you should let him explain?" Jeremy asked.

"Why should I?" Elena demanded.  
>"Because you love him. Because the two of you have been through so much to just give in now." Jeremy suggested.<p>

"Or because he's Damon, he always has a good excuse as to why he did something." Bonnie interjected.

"Are you defending him?" Elena asked Bonnie shocked.

"Sort of. I stood on the porch with him for a couple minutes before you answered the door. He loves you Elena. And i can't fault him for that." Bonnie explained.

"Maybe you should go upstairs and call him." Irene suggested. Knowing she was outnumbered, she agreed.

"Fine." Elena said standing up and walking up the stairs to her room. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she opened the door and seen him sitting on her window seat.

"Damon, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked careful to keep her voice down.

"You wouldn't speak to me, so i figured I would make it impossible to ignore me." he said shrugging his shoulders, having regained control over his temper.

"And you clearly don't get the point of that. I don't want to speak to you." she said. He reached out and grabbed her pulling her towards the bed, where he sat her across from where he sat back down on the window seat.

"I know that you feel like i ditched you. But can you please just understand that I did it for you?" he asked.

"And how exactly is ditching me good for me?" she demanded.

"It just is. Don't make me explain because i cant do that." he said.

"You're trying to protect me again." she said.

"Elena don't." Damon said.

"You're making decisions for me again aren't you?" she demanded.

"All you need to know is that i am going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe." he told her vehemently.

"What's going on Damon?" she demanded.

"You are not being a part of this. You are my first priority." he told her, intent on not telling her anything.

"Will you just tell me where you were?" she asked.

"I guess that cant hurt anything. I was in Atlanta." he said.

"You went to Atlanta?" she shouted forgetting about the presence of her family downstairs.

"Yes. I went to Atlanta overnight. You have to believe me when I say it was entirely in service of you. Everything i do is for you." he told her taking her hand. She simply nodded, believing everything he said.

"Stefan you've returned." Klaus said standing next to a pretty blonde girl who smiled radiantly when Stefan walked in the room.

"Yes and i brought you three werewolves." he said.

"Okay, fine i guess three is good enough for now." Klaus said deciding against getting angry at the less than desirable number.

"Who is this?" Stefan asked.

"This is Rebekah, my sister." he said touching her affectionately on the shoulder.

"Hello Stefan." Rebekah said.

"Hello Rebekah." Stefan said opting for politeness, knowing she was Klaus's sister.

"I brought Rebekah back because she is of assistance to me. She helped me evade Michael years and years ago, and now she will help me create my hybrid race." he said smiling at his sister.

"Who is Michael?" Stefan asked.

"Oh no one you need to worry about Stefan. Michael is long gone." Klaus said.

"Then there is no reason not to tell me." Stefan probed.

"Fine. Michael is a vampire/ vampire hunter. But he is gone now. We ran from him for a very long time." he admitted.

"And where is he now?" Stefan wondered.

"I'm sorry Stefan, i cannot tell you that. I don't trust you nearly enough for that. But i must be going, i need to visit with my werewolves." he said speeding away. Rebekah stood across from Stefan with an odd look on her face.

"Walk with me for a moment." she said reaching out to grab Stefan's arm. Stefan nodded knowing he didn't really have a choice, considering she was an original.

"Nik, I'm just going for a stroll with Stefan." she called out to Klaus.

"Alright Rebekah. Take care of our little vampire for me." he called back. Rebekah smiled before pulling Stefan out of the warehouse and into the woods.

"We need to talk." she said urgently as they sped far from the warehouse.

"Where are we going?" Stefan asked.

"Away from Niklaus. Somewhere he cant hear us." she said.

"And why is that?" Stefan inquired.

"Because i want him dead. He killed me, so it's only fair that i kill him." she said.

"Uh huh. Forgive me, if i don't quite believe you Rebekah. We already had one of your siblings say the same thing to us, and now because of him we have a hybrid Klaus." Stefan said.

"Which one?" Rebekah asked.

"Elijah." Stefan answered.

"Oh, what happened?" she asked.

"Elijah was supposed to keep Elena, my girl- my brothers girlfriend safe, and help us kill Klaus simultaneously. Elena survived only because of her birth father John, using a spell to tie their life forces together. Elijah betrayed us. So forgive me if i don't believe you." Stefan said.

"I can understand that. But what if i told you, i can help you find Michael. He wants Niklaus dead and so do I. He's probably the only one that can kill Nik." she said.

"Where is Micheal?" Stefan demanded.

"I don't know. But i know someone who does." she said.

"Who?" Stefan asked hanging on every word she said.

"Katerina Patrova. Or maybe better known to you, as Katherine Pierce." she said seeing the look of understanding cross his features.

"How would Katherine know where to find Michael?" Stefan inquired.

"Because she ran from us at the same time as he was chasing us. She was a very resourceful wench, and I've always respected that. I did not want the curse broken, and i knew that Katerina was the doppelganger and i knew that Nik wanted her dead. So she was intelligent, she followed us for years and years. Even after Nik killed me, i have a hunch saying that she knows where Michael still lies." she said.

"Thank you Rebekah." he said.

"If you can, you may want to phone Katerina. The sooner the better." she urged. Stefan nodded before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled Katherine's cell phone.

"Stefan, its so good to hear from you." she said picking up the phone.

"I need your help." he said simply through the phone.

"What do you need?" she asked willing to do whatever for him.

"Do you know where Michael lies? The vampire/ vampire hunter that hunted Klaus for years and years?" he asked.

"I do. Why do you want to know?" she asked.

"Why do you think? It's time for Klaus to die." he said.

"Let me show you. I'll come to Mystic Falls, to get you and then we can head out together." she said.

"Cant. I'm with Klaus right now. I'll call Damon, and ask him to meet me here. We're 20 minutes south of Atlanta. Can you meet him here?" he asked.

"Yes." she said.

"Thank you Katherine." he said.  
>"Is this still all about protecting Elena?" she asked.<p>

"Yes and no. Protecting Elena is still Damon's number one priority, but i need Klaus dead, so i can move on." he said.

"Elena is no longer you're priority?" she questioned.

"No. We are no longer together. She's with Damon now." he said.

"So sad. Well i better run if am to get there." she said hanging up the phone.

"We better get back before Nik wonders where we've run off to." Rebekah said. Stefan nodded and they made the quick trip back to the warehouse.

"So am i forgiven?" Damon asked sitting across from Elena still.

"I guess. I don't want you keeping things from me." she begged.

"I have to Elena. You have to understand. I cant live in a world where you don't exist." he said.

"I know that. But it goes both ways. I cant live in a world where you don't exist either." she said pulling him towards her.

"You wont have to." he said kissing the top of her head. He held her until his phone started vibrating insistently.

"Can you just ignore it?" she begged. He looked at the screen and shook his head.

"I cant. It's Stefan." he said. She pulled away and looked into his eyes and he answered the phone.

"What do you have for me Stefan?" he asked.

"I need you to come here immediately." he said.

"What? Now?" he asked.

"Yes. We've found out how to kill Klaus." he said.

"Okay. I'll leave now." he said hanging up.

"where are you going?" Elena demanded.

"I'm going to kill Klaus." he said, deciding that she could know at least that.

"what? No! I'm coming with you." she said.

"No. You are staying here. You are not coming with me. What part of keeping you safe do you not understand?" he asked.

"What part of i cant live without you, do you not understand?" she demanded.

"I'll be back." he said pulling away from him. She responded by throwing her arms tighter around his neck.

"Please don't leave me." she begged burying her face into his chest.

"I have to. Klaus needs to die." he said.

"If you leave this room. We're over Damon." she threatened him hoping that would change his mind.

"I love you Elena." he said before releasing himself from her embrace and kissing the top of her head tenderly, before leaping out of her window and disappearing into the night. Elena broke down, collapsing into her bed and cried herself to sleep. Somewhere inside she knew that she probably wouldn't see him again.


	13. Chapter 13

hope you like it. Let me know what you think. This story only has 3 or 4 chapters left according to my plan. but that could change depending on if i get any new ideas for it.

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><p>"And then he said "I love you" and he left. Just like that. Even after I told him it was over if he did." Elena wailed into Caroline's shoulder as she sat with her and Bonnie a week after Damon had left. In that week she had seen no one except Jeremy. She didn't leave the house, she barely left the safety of her own room. She had always told herself that she would never be the girl that came undone because her boyfriend left her. And she wasn't, only this time it was different. This boyfriend was Damon, and she knew she would probably never see him again. Damon being the hero needed to dispose of Klaus, and while Elena wished for it, she just wished that Damon didn't have to be a part of it. Didn't have to risk his life to save hers, that wasn't what she wanted.<p>

"Is it really over Elena, or were you just saying that to make him stay?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. If I don't say it is, then I'll be broken all over again if he doesn't come back. And if I say its not, then I'll pine after him forever. I don't know what to do." she said still crying into Caroline's shoulder.

"It's okay. He'll come back, in fact he probably didn't leave, because he vowed never to leave you alone." Caroline said hopefully.

"No, he left. It's been a week. What if Klaus has him? What if he's dead? What if the last words I spoke to him were "If you leave this room, we're through."" Elena said breaking down once more.

"Come on Elena. He knows you didn't mean it. Come on, he's Damon and you're Elena, you two belong together. I know that, you know that and he knows that too. You'll weather this storm and Klaus will be dead. And you two will live happily ever after. I know it." Caroline said wrapping her arms around Elena.

"But what if he's dead? What if I didn't get to say goodbye? Or that I love him." Elena said sobbing uncontrollably.

"Elena, you know I've never been the biggest fan of Damon's, but I know how he feels about you, and I'm sure he'll come back for you." Bonnie said taking Elena's hand in hers and squeezing it slightly.

"I can only hope. If I don't hope right now, then I have nothing left." Elena said.

"You still have hope. I believe in that." Bonnie said assuredly.

"I do too. Damon is so stubborn that I know he wouldn't ever leave you because then he wouldn't have time to spend with you. And that's all he wants is to spend time with you." Caroline said.

"Thank you guys. But I think this is something I have to deal with alone. I cant believe it. First I lose my parents, then I lose Stefan, then Isobel, then Jenna, John, and now Damon. Damon is the one that I never thought I'd ever lose. He's been here through it all." she said removing herself from Caroline's embrace.

"He wont leave you forever. He couldn't. Damon loves you, you just have to believe in that right now." Caroline said standing up, knowing her friend needed some space.

"everything will be okay. And if its not, then you'll always have us." Bonnie said hugging Elena once before standing beside Caroline

"Call us if you need anything. No matter what time. If you need anything." Caroline said insistently. Elena nodded before laying back in her pillows and rolling onto her side. Bonnie and Caroline slowly left and shut the door behind them. Once they were back downstairs they ran into Jeremy.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked worried about his sister.

"I don't know. Damon is gone. He left to go fight Klaus." Caroline said.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" Jeremy asked.

"Damon was here and then he told her he was leaving to kill Klaus. Elena told him that if he left the room they were over. He said he loved her and then he left. Cue to Elena crying for a week in her room, unwilling to come out." Caroline explained.

"She never told me what happened. At least now I understand." he said.

"Yeah. It's hard to lose one's true love." Bonnie said taking a step towards Jeremy. He wrapped his arm around her pulling her close to his side.

"She's gonna be okay right?" he asked worried.

"Of course, even if Damon doesn't come back from this, we'll make sure she's okay." Bonnie assured her boyfriend. He nodded and kissed the top of her head.

"I better go." Caroline said turning around.

"I'll come with you." Bonnie said extricating herself from Jeremy's arms and following Caroline.

"What the hell do you mean, he wont eat? Make him. I want to kill Klaus and go home." Damon said growing frustrated at sitting in a tomb with only Katherine and a dead vampire/ vampire hunter as company.

"He wont eat Damon. I don't know what else to try. He doesn't like animal blood, he doesn't like gravedigger blood. I don't know what else to try." Katherine said exasperated.

"Well find something because I want to go home." Damon said running his hands through his hair and thinking of the look on Elena's face when he kissed her goodbye. The fact is that kiss really was goodbye,, she told him in no uncertain words that if he left the room they were over. He did it because he needed to keep her safe, and he would make the same decision again if he had to. He always had and always would put Elena above his own needs. And his own needs consisted of going home and making Elena forgive him, but at the moment this was more important, and he would stay for as long as it took. Even if it risked losing her forever.

"I'm trying Damon. I want Klaus dead as much as you do. You could help you know. Besides what's so important back in Mystic Falls anyways?" she asked still trying to force some blood down Micheal's throat.

"Elena. You may know her, she's the one that looks just like you, but without the vindictive, bitchy attitude." he said.

"Ah so you did steal your brothers girl." Katherine said impressed.

"I didn't steal her. Her relationship with Stefan was over and she moved on. End of story." Damon said pulling his phone out of his pocket, tempted to call Elena.

"While you're pining, I'm gonna go outside and look for some fresh blood." Katherine said standing up and walking outside. While she was gone Damon got the nerve to dial Elena's cell phone. He was partially relieved when he got the voice mail, because he had no idea of what to say to her. There was nothing he could say to make this better, and he knew that. He idly wondered what she was doing. Whether she was out with her friends and having a good time, or whether she was broken because he broke her heart. He hoped it was the first one, because the picture of the second on made Damon's unbeating heart lurch. Katherine came back a few minutes later dragging a youngish man behind her.

"Where did you find him?" Damon asked.

"Oh it was easy. He was walking through the cemetery and I appeared. Of course he was willing to do whatever I needed." she said biting into the guys neck and dripping some of the blood into Micheal's mouth. After he started drinking Katherine threw the guys body across the tomb and looked down at Michael.

"Hello Michael. We need your help." Katherine said in a sugary sweet voice.

"Katerina Patrova, you're still alive." he said savouring each word.

"Alive and well. This is Damon Salvatore." she said gesturing to Damon who was slowly making his way over.

"What do you want? Why would you disturb my peace?" he asked.

"We need you to kill Klaus. You're the only one who can do it." Katherine said.

"This is true. But why should I help you?" he asked.

" Klaus needs to die. I need to be able to stop running. I've been running for a long long time and I want to relax." she admitted.

"And what about you Damon. Why do you want Klaus dead?" he asked sitting up in his coffin.

"I need to save the life of someone that I love very much." he said vaguely.

"And you require Klaus dead for that?" he questioned.

"Yes. She is the newest Patrova doppelganger and Klaus needs her blood for his diabolical plan. So therefore Klaus needs to die, because I will die before I ever allow him to come close to taking a drop of Elena's blood." Damon said vehemently.

"A Patrova doppelganger. You're just lucky that I to want Klaus dead. He goes against nature and he cant live. Inform me of what has transpired" he ordered Katherine. Satisfied Damon went and sat down on the other side of the tomb again.

"Well Klaus broke the curse and now he is a full blown hybrid. He wants to create his own race of hybrids, and we cant allow that." Katherine said giving him the short version.

"He needs to die." Michael agreed.

"Stefan and Rebekah are not to be harmed." Damon shot in, not wanting Stefan or their ally to get hurt.

"Fine. They wont be harmed. I only want Klaus." he said. Damon nodded satisfied before pulling out his phone again. He seen the picture of Elena on his screen and smiled slightly. He couldn't believe that even being this far away from her and technically broken up, how he still felt about her.

"Put the phone away Damon. You can stare at Elena all you want once you go home." Katherine said disgustedly. Damon glared at Katherine before sliding his phone back in his pocket. He desperately wanted to talk to her, but he knew he couldn't. She wouldn't want to speak to him anyways, he told himself.

Stefan and Rebekah were waiting impatiently for word from Damon and Katherine. They were supposed to find Michael and wake him. It had been a few days since they had last heard from them and Stefan was beginning to grow worried.

"What is going on here?" Klaus asked walking into the room.

"Nothing. Nic, is it so wrong to just want to spend some quality time with Stefan?" she asked going to stand beside her brother.

"No I suppose not. Are you two rekindling your old relationship?" he questioned.

"Maybe. We can't really talk about it if you are here." she said.

"Fine fine. I'll just go chat with my wolves." he said disappearing again. Rebekah returned to her seat beside Stefan when Stefan's phone vibrated.

"Found him. Woke him." was all Damon's message said. Stefan immediately deleted the message, to protect them in the off chance that Klaus decided to check his phone.

Elena was laying in bed, ignoring the chimes of her cell phone. Without checking the callers list she deleted them all not wanting to talk to anyone. It had been a week and she missed him like crazy. Now that Caroline and Bonnie were gone, she had a chance to think about what she really wanted. She heard a knock at her door and her grandma poked her head in.

"You should eat something my dear. Everyone goes through breakups. It's just part of life." she said trying to assure her granddaughter. Elena nodded minutely, knowing that what her grandma thought was just a normal breakup, was so much more.

"Thanks grandma." Elena whispered taking the bowl from her.

"It'll feel better eventually. Someday you'll wake up in the morning and the sun will be shining and you will realize that you will be okay." she said before leaving and shutting the door behind her. Elena knew it wasn't true though, because in the course of just a couple months he had become her sun. He was the light in her days then only reason the world wasn't completely dark. She needed him back, but she didn't know how to find him or how to get him back. Another knock on her door revealed Jeremy poking his head in.

"Are you okay. Bonnie and Caroline told me about what happened?" he asked standing by the door.

"No. And I wont be until Damon comes home safe and sound. I love him Jer." she said sitting up on the bed.

"I know you do. I can see it in your eyes." he said. Elena smiled for a second.

"I need to get him back." Elena said standing up.

"what are you doing Elena? You don't even know where he is."Jeremy said shocked.

"I know I don't. I'm going to see Bonnie. She can do something." Elena said excitement flowing

through her for the first time in a week.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Yes. I need him." she said unashamed. Jeremy nodded and let Elena pass him. He watched her go down the stairs and tell grandma that she was going to visit Bonnie.

Elena got to Bonnie's in under the time it usually took to get there. She knocked on the door until Bonnie opened it.

"Elena what are you doing here?" she asked surprised to see her friend on her doorstep.

"I need you to do a spell." she said.

"What kind of spell?" Bonnie asked timidly.

"A locator spell. I need to find Damon." she said urgently.


	14. Chapter 14

there is onlt two chapters left in this story and then an epilouge. Thank you for sticking with it. Hope you enjoy this. As always let me know what you think.

PS i own nothing as usual.

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><p>"Elena, are you sure that's what you want?" Bonnie asked after a moment of silence and pulling Elena into the house and sitting her on the couch.<p>

"Yes, I need to find him. I never told him that I loved him before he left." she said wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"But what if something happened? What if what you find isn't what you want to find?" Bonnie asked.

"What are you saying?" Elena asked.

"What if Klaus has him? Or what if hes dead?" Bonnie asked.

"He's not. I feel it. I need to find him Bon, please help me." she begged.

"Elena I have to ask you again, are you sure you want to do this? He wanted you to stay safe." Bonnie urged.

"I know that. But I have to see him. I wont feel better until I do." she said. Elena's insistence to do this, made Bonnie realize that she really didn't have a choice.

"Alright, I'll help you. But you have to let me come with you. And maybe Caroline and Alaric." she said.

"Fine. I don't care who all comes, I just need to see him." Elena said.

"Alright. Do you have something that belonged to him?" Bonnie asked grabbing her grimoire from the shelf and opened it to a locator spell.

" What do you need? He left clothes at my house." she offered.

"Blood is best Elena. If I'm to find him I need something with a strong physical tie to him. Blood is the best." Bonnie said.

"How about hair?" Elena asked.

"Hair would work." Bonnie agreed.

"I'll call Jer, and ask him to go over to the Boarding House and get Damon's brush." she said.

"Good idea." Bonnie nodded. Elena quickly called Jeremy and he agreed promising to have the brush there as soon as possible.

A few minutes later Jeremy arrived with the brush.

"You know how awkward it was searching through Damon's stuff trying to find a brush? Especially when I find evidence of my sister spending her nights there?" he asked walking into Bonnie's house.

"What did you find?" Elena asked.

"Well I didn't know where he would keep a brush, and I was curious." he said.

"Curious about what?" she asked.

"Curious about what the guy owned, so I searched his room. I never ever want to see one of your bras ever again?" he said pointing his finger at her.

"You searched his dresser. He gave me a drawer in his dresser for the nights I spent there." she said.

"I can see that. I see you have a whole bunch of toiletries there too. Planning on spending lots of time there." he said surrendering the brush.

"I've been planning on moving in with him. I love him." she said. Elena handed the brush over to Bonnie who plucked a hair from it. Bonnie handed the brush back to Elena, and she put it in her purse so she could take it back. Jeremy sat down beside Bonnie and watched as she started chanting. After a few minutes she looked up and smiled tentatively at Elena.

"He's just outside Atlanta." she said. Elena smiled in relief knowing she's found him. Bonnie circled the spot on the map that the hair pointed to and rolled it up.

"So when do we leave?" Elena asked eagerly.

Damon fought the nerve to call Elena yet again. He was still sitting in that tomb with Katherine, but now it was Michael who was talking. Damon didn't trust him, because at this point he didn't know how to trust. Michael was busy telling Katherine all about Klaus. It turned out that Michael was Klaus, and Rebekah's father. The idea shocked him, that Michael wanted him dead so badly, but then his mind shot back to his father and remembered he'd killed him and Stefan. The idea didn't seem so shocking anymore. Damon didn't really care about the logistics of it all, he just wanted Klaus dead, and Elena safe. Nothing else mattered.

"Can we take off yet? This tomb is getting gloomy as hell." Damon asked tired of standing by the wall.

"I suppose so. Michael you will stay hidden until we call you right?" Katherine asked.

"Yes. I will follow your plan, but don't ever forget that I am as much as a threat to you as Klaus is. Don you ever forget that." he said.

"Don worry I wont." Katherine said and Damon agreed. The began that long drive back to Atlanta as Michael stood up and stretched.

"Katherine, thank you." Damon said as they walked back to the car.

"For what?" she asked confused.

"Helping us with this." he said.

" I didn't do it for you. I did it for me. I need to be rid of Klaus too." she said. Damon nodded knowing she was telling the truth, and then sat in silence for the duration of the drive to Atlanta.

Once they arrived at the location the map pointed to, Elena and Bonnie climbed out of the car. She had decided to just go by themselves. They didn't want to worry anyone else.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Elena asked quietly. She didn't have any idea of where Damon might be.

"He'll be here. I tracked him it told me that he either is here, or has been here." she said.

"Okay." Elena said. They started walking through the forest when a cold voice stopped them immediately.

"What do we have here?" the eerily familiar accent asked. Elena spun around and immediately gasped. Klaus was standing right in front of her. Bonnie stiffened at her side and Elena knew she was trying to gather as much power as she could.

"Don't try to run my pretty. Or else." he said. Elena stood there frozen, as Klaus instructed two of his wolves to grab Elena and Bonnie, and carry them back to the warehouse. Klaus took them around the back way and shoved them into the cellar locking the door behind them. He would pull them out when he needed them, right now they would serve as prisoners. He walked back to the warehouse and walked inside. He seen Stefan and Rebekah still talking. Both their heads snapped up at his entrance.

"Where have you been Nic?" Rebekah asked sweetly.

"Out getting myself some bait." he said.

"Bait?" Rebekah asked confused.

"Oh, how stupid do the two of you think I am? I know that you are attempting to play me. And I know that Damon and Katerina are out there somewhere. I caught myself some bait while I was wandering through the woods tracking them. I caught myself something better." he said smiling.

"How did you know?" Rebekah asked.

"It was obvious. You talk behind my back, go off alone. It all led to one thought. Betrayal." he said coldly.

"What are you going to do?" she asked as Stefan stood frozen by her side.

"Nothing yet. I shall pretend that nothing is wrong, until Damon and Katerina arrive. Then to pay you for you insubordination I shall kill my prisoner in front of the person/ vampire that loves her most in the whole world. And it will only be your fault." he said coldly.

"You have Elena." Stefan stated. Klaus smiled and nodded confirming his fears.

"No why don't you go find Damon and Katerina, and bring them here. Then the show can finally begin." he said shooing them out of the warehouse.

"What made us ever think we could hide from Klaus?" Stefan asked as they walked deeper into the woods.

"I don't know. I'm sorry Stefan, I know you loved her." she said.

"I don't love her anymore, its Damon I'm worried about." he said.

"How so?" she questioned.

"He grows reckless when she's in danger. He'll do whatever it takes to save her, even if it gets himself killed or ruins our plan. He has a one track mind, and Elena is the only thing ever on it." he explained.

"That's not good." Rebekah said.

"I have to text him and tell him to hurry. This needs to be finished before Klaus decides to kill her just out of spite." he said.

"Klaus does that from time to time. You're right, we better hurry." she agreed.

"If Elena dies, then Damon will revert back into his emotionless state. I don't want that again, I just got my brother back." he said sending a quick text message to Damon.

Damon sat in the passenger seat of the Porsche tapping his fingers on the window out of boredom.

"Damn it, Damon will you stop that." Katherine demanded. Damon bit back a sarcastic come back when his phone starting vibrating.

"What does Stefan want now?" Katherine asked.

"Just give me a minute to read it." Damon said rolling his eyes.

_Klaus has Elena. Get back quick, he could kill her._

"Shit. Stomp on it Katherine, we have to get back." Damon demanded after reading the text message.

"What did the message say Damon?" Katherine demanded.  
>"Klaus has Elena. She must have come to find me." he said. Katherine rolled her eyes, but did as he told and pressed her foot down on the gas making the car pick up speed. All the while Katherine muttered something that Damon didn't care to think about or try to decipher.<p>

Elena paced around the cellar while Bonnie watched with a worried expression on her face. She had tried several spells and enchantments to try to get out, but it seemed that the cellar was spelled with magic stronger than Bonnie's.

"We have to get out of here?" Elena said.

"I know. But we're stuck Elena. I tried everything I could think of." Bonnie assured Elena. Elena continued pacing until Klaus opened the door.

"Come along now my lovelies." he said holding out his hands. Bonnie and Elena both walked past him without taking his offered hands. He led them into the warehouse, where Greta was sitting on a stool waiting.

"What is she doing here?" Elena demanded.

"She is going to help me. I need to keep you contained." he said pushing them into a circle drawn on the floor in chalk. The set up reminded her too much of the sacrifice, the night she lost Jenna.

"What are you planning Klaus?" she asked.

"No more sacrifices my dear. Although I may just kill you for fun. I just needed a way to keep you contained." he said. Stefan and Rebekah walked in each with expressions of worry on their faces.

"Stefan." Elena said, and he nodded at her infinitesimally in response. She knew from his response that he was still Stefan, that Klaus hadn't taken him again. She wasn't entirely sure about Rebekah but didn't care at the moment.

"Damon." she mouthed to Stefan, knowing he'd understand.

"He'll be here." he mouthed back. She nodded and sank to the floor. Bonnie put her arm around Elena's shoulder and pulled her close.

Katherine parked a little ways away and Damon leaped out of he car seeing Elena's car parked right beside the Porsche. There were no signs of struggle at the car which was a good thing. He took off running towards the warehouse with Katherine following closely behind him. He threw open the door and was floored when he seen Elena sitting in the circle beside Bonnie. He stopped and she looked up at him, apologetically. He was relieved that she was still alive and he turned his focus onto Klaus.

"Let her go." he demanded.

"Damon, Katerina, you finally decided to join us." he said.

"Let her go." he repeated.

"What can the four of you do to me, the all powerful hybrid?" he asked.

"Let her go." Damon repeated again. Klaus took a few steps forward before standing face to face with Damon.

"You know its almost inspiring how you feel about this one human girl, but like I said you cant do anything. I on the other hand can kill you just like that." he said snapping his fingers and shoving his hand into Damon's chest. Katherine, Stefan and Rebekah rushed forward to stop him.

"I cant kill you. But there's someone who can." Damon panted as Klaus's hand still protruded from his chest and was currently squeezing his heart.

"I'm intrigued. Who could possibly kill me?" he asked laughter evident in his voice.

"I could." Michael making an appearance at the warehouse door. Klaus removed his hand from Damon's chest and he collapsed to the ground panting.

"Michael." he said. He nodded at Rebekah as he passed by her.

"Hello Niklaus." he said.


	15. Chapter 15

Okay, so apparently I lied before. this is the last chapter and then tomorrow or the next day there will be a epilouge. this decision was made once I realised I had no talent in writing fight scenes. so i decided to skip it and just partially relive it in this chapter. much easier and it turned out better. I think this turned out pretty well, although we get a bit science fictiony in this chapter. usually i dont bring the sci fi, ghost aspect into my stories but I hope you like it regardless. as alwasy let me know what you think. and who do yo think Stefan should end up with in this story? he deserves to have his happy ending too. Cant really decide between Katherine and Rebekah. i like them both. thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story. every review means the world to me. thank you so much. Let me know what you think :)

PS i own nothing except my ideas. how i wish i owned Damon. *sigh*

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><p>When Elena woke up several hours later, all she could remember was Rebekah killing Greta thus breaking the magic keeping her and Bonnie contained, then being violently slash protectively being shoved back towards the door by Damon. She understood why he did it, there were two original vampires fighting it out just across from where he sat on the floor trying to regain his strength after almost having his heart ripped out. Once freed, she ran to her fallen boyfriend (ex boyfriend?) but using the strength he had left he shoved her, sending her flying towards the wall. She couldn't remember anything from that point, especially how she ended up in her bed at home. She didn't know how it ended, she didn't know if she was safe. She didn't know if everyone she loved was safe. She didn't know if Damon was safe. She especially didn't know how she got back from Atlanta in such a short span of time, although she really didn't know how long that span of time really was. Elena couldn't explain why Rebekah killed Greta, it could have been anyone, but it had been Rebekah. And to Elena, she wasn't sure if Greta should have died at all. Upon a closer examination of that thought, Elena took it back. Greta helped Klaus kill Jenna, and kill her thus breaking the curse and getting them all in this mess in the first place. She looked around the familiar features of her room and smiled. She was glad to be home, but she still felt empty. Her head throbbed, but that didn't stop her from wishing Damon were there with her. Especially at that moment when she really didn't know if he was alive. Anything could have happened while she was unconscious. For once something she wished for came true, and Damon walked through her door with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin in his hand. He walked in silently, and she seen the look of relief when he saw that her eyes were open. He rushed to her side and handed her the water and two of the Advil's before standing somewhat awkwardly by the bed. Neither had forgotten how they ended things just over a week ago.<p>

"How are you feeling?" he asked needing to break the awkward silence.

"My head hurts." she admitted.

"The Advil should help that." he said.

"Yeah." she agreed. They lapsed back into silence, neither knowing how to fill it.

"So what happened after I got thrown into a wall?" she asked. She saw the flash of apology and remorse in his eyes remembering that he caused her pain, no matter how unintentional it had been.

"Elena, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to push you so hard. It just scared me so much seeing you walking towards that. I couldn't bare you getting hurt, but you did anyways, and it was because of me." he said.

"It's okay. You did what you thought was right at the time. And you did it to protect me. That's what you do. You protect me even when I don't want to be protected. I'm not mad about that Damon. You probably saved my life again." she said.

"I really am sorry." he said.

"And I am really fine. But what happened after that?" she asked.

" Klaus and Michael fought hard against each other. I had to give it to Klaus, he fought a hard fight. But Michael, was just too strong. Klaus now has a dagger in his chest and is out of our lives forever." he said.

"What about everyone else? Stefan, Bonnie, Rebekah?" she asked

"They're all fine. Everyone is fine." he said.

"What about us?" she asked.

"That's up to you. You're the one who ended it. But I don't want you making that decision now. You need to get your rest. I have something to do." he said.

"Damon, I'm still mad at you for leaving." she said.

"I know that." he answered quietly.

"And I don't think I'm ready to forgive you. I'm not ready to be us again. I just need some time." she said.

"Take all the time you need." he told her, repeating the words he had spoken to her the last time she needed to forgive him something. Damon left and shortly after he didn't, Grandma Irene came in with a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

"Are you hungry dear? Damon said you had a bad fall." she said worried.

"Thank you Grandma. I am pretty hungry actually." she admitted. Irene smiled at that and leaned over and kissed her granddaughters forehead.

"I'm glad you're alright dear." she said.

"Thanks grandma." Elena said quietly. While she ate, Jeremy came in and talked with her, he voiced his dissatisfaction at not being able to come with them. He was angry at them because he was forced to sit at home while his girlfriend and sister risked their lives for him.

"Elena, I don't know what I would have done if I lost you too." he said brokenly.

"But you didn't." she said.

"You have no idea what went through my mind when Damon brought you home, cradled in his arms. He told grandma that you had a bad fall, but I knew that wasn't true. It was never just a bad fall. At least this time you weren't dead." he said.

"You wont lose me Jer. I wouldn't leave you." she said sitting up, ignoring the throbbing in her head.

"What really happened?" he asked.

"Damon threw me into a wall inadvertently while trying to save my life again." she said.

"At least now it makes sense. But I'm gonna go and let you get some rest. Elena smiled at her brother and watched him go. She finished off her soup and laid back on the pillows trying to get some more rest.

Damon paced the floor in front of the very confused witch in front of him.

"What do you want Damon?" Bonnie demanded.

"Listen to me, before you go all judgy on me. Klaus is dead, is there anyway you have undo his evil? Put the curse back together, reverse the ritual?" he asked.

"Why would you even want to do that? Klaus is gone, its not a danger anymore." she said.

"It's always a danger, but that's not the reason." he said.

"Then what is? This is intense magic, I don't even want to attempt it unless there is a good reason for it. I would need to try and get help from the witches." she said.

"Well then do it." he said.

"Not unless you tell me why." she said.

"Elena and Jeremy have lost too many people. I'm sure you can agree with that. I was hoping we could bring one back." he said.

"You want to bring Jenna back?" Bonnie asked. Damon nodded minutely.

"I don't know if she would come back human or a vampire." she warned him.

"It doesn't matter. She's still Jenna. Elena and Jeremy both miss her so much. Not to mention Ric." he said.

"Since when did you start caring for others?" Bonnie asked warily.

"Since the moment I fell in love with Elena." he admitted. Bonnie nodded her head, knowing that he would do anything for Elena, no matter the cost to him.

"I'll try. We should go as soon as possible." Bonnie said.  
>"Lets go now." Damon suggested. Bonnie agreed and followed Damon out of the house.<p>

Elena's headache slowly diminished, and she started wondering where Damon was. She expected him to be there throughout this entire ordeal, but he wasn't. She realized that she was a little harsh on him, and that despite what she said to him, she was ready for them again, and that she did forgive him. She loved him and that was all the matters. This whole situation with Klaus and losing Jenna and two sets of parents in the past couple years told her that you need to take everyday and cherish it because there might not be a tomorrow. Fall in love and make it great, because you don't know when you could lose that person, or that person lose you. She was still and probably would always be in love with Damon, and he deserved to know that. She wasn't anywhere near well enough to leave the house and go find him, but she wished he would just appear like her own personal knight in shining armour. He was always there when she needed him, no matter how many times she told him not to be, or gave him one reason or another why he shouldn't be there for her. She knew he was because he loved her, he loved her unconditionally and irrevocably, and with so much passion, that she sometimes found herself getting lost in it. She wanted to get lost in that passion right now, but he wasn't there. He was doing what he told her he would do. He was giving her time to make a decision on them. He was being the good guy.

Damon sat outside the ruins as Bonnie begged the witches to help her. Emily came to her and told her it would be upsetting the balance of nature again, and Damon didn't like the sound of that.

" Emily please. Klaus breaking the curse upset the balance. Reversing the curse is the only way to fix it. Please Emily." Bonnie begged. Bonnie felt a change around her, and she knew that Emily was going to allow her to harness her power. She knew that Emily agreed with her thoughts. But knew that Emily was not going to help her beyond that. She had to figure this out on her own. Quickly thanking the witches, she stood up and blew out the candles. Walking outside where Damon leaned on the hood of his car.

"Well?" he asked.

"Emily is going to help me. Let me harness her powers, but I have to figure out how to do it on my own." she said.

"Well then lets get to reading those grimoires and find us a spell." he said.

"Yeah." she said climbing into the car. Soon enough they were at the Boarding House, poring over all of Bonnie's grimoires. She looked through all her grandma's books too. After a couple hours of searching Bonnie found what she was looking for.

"I found it." she said. Damon shut it book and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, what do we need to do?" he demanded as he waited for her to tell him about it.

"If her spirit is still in between she can come back as a human." Bonnie explained.

"And if she isn't in between?" Damon asked.

"Then she's gone forever. But Jenna died a horrible death. She died twice in one day. By all rights she should still be in between, this could work." she said allowing some hope to creep into her voice. Damon reclined on his chair and hoped a

that this spell worked. There was nothing more he wanted to give Elena that someone she lost a long time ago. Bonnie started chanting and closed her eyes. Damon watched interestedly as she fought to bring Jenna back. Using all her magic and all of the power at her disposal she started pulling Jenna back.

"Don we need her body?" Damon asked.

"Yeah. Go dig it up. The ghost wont come back. At least now I know where Elena gets some of her stubbornness from." Bonnie gritted out. Damon rushed out of the house and went to the cemetery. In his entire existence he had never dug a body out of a grave before and it just seemed wrong. Using his vampire speed he dug through the soil until he found the casket. Elena had insisted on having her buried, something that Damon was entirely grateful. He opened the casket and seen the grey, decaying body of the vampire Jenna. Using his superior strength he lifted the casket and rushed it to the house leaving his car behind. He placed the casket down by Bonnie who refused to look at the body.

"I'm just going to run and get my car." he said. Quickly before disappearing. Under 5 minutes later he as back and sitting in his chair again. As Damon watched he saw Jenna appear as if out of thin air. He watched as the ghost made its way over to the body and merged into one. Damon watched while Jenna's colour started returning to normal and her chest start rising and falling. When her heart started beating Damon was ecstatic, she came back human. Bonnie instantly started crying and thanked Emily silently. Jenna's eyes popped open as she sat up in the casket.

"Where am I? Why am I in a casket?" she asked groggily.

"Do you remember anything?" Damon asked.

"I remember being in a circle of fire, and of waking up a vampire. Then I remember dying slowly." she said.

"We brought you back. You're human." she said.

"I'm human." she said glancing at herself and shooting her eyes around her.  
>"Where am I?" she asked disorientated.<p>

"My house." Damon answered. Jenna nodded and climbed out of the casket. She wobbled initially when she stood on her feet for the first time but Damon steadied her.

"Thank you both." she said once she realized that this wasn't some cruel joke the other world was playing on her.

"Your welcome." Damon answered for both him and Bonnie who was crying. She walked over and hugged Bonnie quickly.

"where is Elena and Jeremy?" she asked.

"Home. I'll take you there. Just give me a minute or two to explain." he said.

"And Ric?" she asked.

"I'll tell him too." Damon promised.

A little while later Damon had Elena, Jeremy and Alaric sitting around the table while Irene went out to play bingo at Damon's compulsion. The three of them sat on one end of the table looking at Damon weirdly.

"What's going on?" Alaric asked.

"Okay, this is going to sound impossible but Jenna is back." he said.

"Jenna? Damon don't do this. I don't know what kind of sick joke this is but, its not funny." Alaric said as Jeremy and Elena sucked in a breath of shock.

"Its true. Bonnie and I brought her back. She's human and she perfectly fine. We made sure of that." he said.

"Where is she?" they all asked.

"She's outside. I told her I wouldn't be long." he said.

"How?" Elena asked.

"Bonnie harnessed some power and then brought her spirit or ghost back to his world and I brought her body back." he said. Elena nodded as Jeremy sat there shocked.

"I want to see her." Alaric said. The other two nodded frantically.

"I'll go get her." he said. He left for a moment before he came back with Jenna following closely behind him. Alaric jumped up and started touching her to make sure she was real, while Elena started crying and Jeremy looked on in shock.

"Jenna, you're back." Elena said as she got up and hugged her aunt. Jeremy followed closely behind her and the four of them hugged.

"I missed you so much." Elena said as she sobbed in her aunts shoulder. The four cried and after a few minutes Elena looked up and noticed that Damon was gone.

"Are you looking for Damon?" Jenna asked. Elena nodded.

"I never would have thought I'd ever say this, but he's a good man. And he's in love with you." Jenna said.

"I know that. We actually started dating a little while after you died. But we've been broken up for over a week because he decided to play the hero again.." she said.

"Well he brought me back today. And I'm pretty sure he didn't do that for himself. He did it for you. And for Jeremy and Ric. But mostly for you, because he told me so in the car on the way over here." she said.  
>"everything is does is for me. His words not mine." Elena said.<p>

"Don't you think its time you let him off the hook for whatever it is that he did? He did bring me back to life for you." Jenna said smiling at her niece.

"Yeah." Elena admitted.

"Then go get your man." Jenna commanded. Elena smiled.

"Will you be here when I get back?" she asked.

"of course I will. I'm not going anywhere ever again." she said. Elena hugged her aunt once more before grabbing her car keys and speeding over to the Boarding House.

She banged loudly on the door when she arrived waiting impatiently for someone to answer. Damon opened the door with a scowl on his face, as if he hadn't been paying attention to whoever was at the door. His expression changed when he saw Elena at the door.

"Elena, what are..." he started, but she cut him off by kissing him with everything she had to give. He kissed her back before pulling away and staring at her.

"I forgive you and I love you, and I want to be with you. I love the way you are, and I love the way you always put me first, way above everyone else. I love the way I feel about you. And I love the way you make me feel. I love that you would go to any lengths to protect me and I know that you know I would do that exact same thing for you. I don't want to think about not being in a relationship with you anymore. I want to have a happy ending with you." she rambled. He silenced her with another kiss, this one so light and feather soft she could barely feel it although it still managed to send butterflies afloat in her stomach.

"you can stop now. I love you too." he told her kissing her lips once more before pulling her into the house and shutting the door.


	16. epilouge

I hope you enjoy possibly the fluffiest, and corniest piece of writing I have ever written. It is filled with love and wedding gooeyness. I loved writing it, and it is one of my favourite things I have written in a long time. I hope you all feel the same way about it. I'm sad that this story is finished, I loved writing every second of it, every word. Thank you to each and every one of you who left me your thoughts on the chapters. I really appreciated them all. Thank you to all of you who favorited, alerted this story or me as an author throughout the course of this story. Thank you to, flowersprincess16, Wicked R, pannybaby123, , shortybabygirl2009, LadyElena17, Polia, 000janedoe000, vannaxxx, RobzBella, vampsaywhat, YOuNMck33, PrettyTweety, kat, QueenBee10, Icemanss, delena123, willowandkat, Alice, DelenaNianFTW. Thank you to all of you. Thank your for sticking with me, thank you for reviewing one or all chapters. Thank you! And of course, let me know what you think of the insanely fluffy gooey chapter.

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><p><em>*six weeks later*<em>

The warm summer air blew through the trees outside the Gilbert-Sommers house, soon to be the Gilbert-Saltzman-Sommers house. After such a long time, and a tumultuous few months Jenna and Alaric were finally tying the knot. It was to be a small ceremony with only their closest friends in attendance. It was planned in under a month thanks to Caroline and her master planning capabilities. It was perfect outside, the flowers were all bloomed and the sky was a perfect cloudless blue.

"Are you sure I look alright?" Jenna asked as she fiddled with her veil again, the nerves clearly getting to her.

"You look beautiful Jenna." Elena said slapping her hand away from the veil and readjusting it.

"What if I faint? What if he changes his mind?"Jenna fretted shooting her hands back up to her veil.

"He wont Jenna. He's been in love with you for so long. Give him the benefit of the doubt here. Are you going to be okay long enough so I can go get changed?" Elena asked. Jenna nodded slightly, although the look on her face convinced Elena otherwise.

"Just a second. I'll go grab someone." Elena said. She quickly left the room to find the first available person. "Care, I need you for a second. Jenna is freaking out and I need to get dressed." she said. Caroline nodded and followed Elena into Jenna's bedroom where she was now pacing the floor in her wedding dress.

"Just calm down Jenna. I don't want to have to compel you." Caroline warned. Jenna immediately calmed down knowing all about compulsion.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous." she admitted.

"I never would've guessed." Caroline said partially sarcastically and partially reassuringly. Elena rushed to her room and pulled her bridesmaids dress down from the door.

"Well you look beautiful." a silky voice asked.

"Damon, you so shouldn't be here right now. You're supposed to be with Ric." she said.

"I know that. But he was driving me mad with all his panicking." Damon said taking a few steps towards her.

"I really don't have time for this. The ceremony is supposed to be in under a half hour and I look like this." she said gesturing to herself dressed in a silk dressing robe.

"I think you look perfect just the way you are." he said.

"You're only saying that so we could spend the next little while doing much more fun activities." she said.

"Very true." he admitted.

"Get out of here." she said shoving him towards the door. He let her push him out, and he went to rejoin Alaric downstairs. Elena pulled on her champagne coloured dress quickly and slipped on her matching pumps before rushing back to Jenna's room. When she got back Caroline was pacing the room.

"Oh thank God your back. She's driving me crazy." Caroline said.

"Sorry." Elena said.

"It's fine. I'll see you down there. You look amazing by the way." she said of Elena's outfit. Her hair was done up in a side bun with a couple shorter tendrils framing her face and her make up was light and angelic. The jewelry was minimal.

"Thanks." Elena said. Caroline rushed out of the room and went outside to find her seat next to Tyler. Elena looked out the window and turned to Jenna.

"It's getting full out there." she said.

"Is Ric out there yet?" she asked still convinced that he was going to leave her at the altar.

"He is, and he looks terrified. Damon is standing beside him. Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah. I've never been more ready officially." she said.

"What happened to being scared to death earlier?" Elena asked chuckling.

" The second you told me he was down there, I lost all fear and nervousness." she admitted. Elena smiled at her aunt before hugging her quickly. They heard a knock at the door and Jeremy poked his head in.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." Jenna said excitedly.

"Alright then. Let's go get you married." he said leading her out of the room. Jeremy kissed Elena's cheek before letting her go in front of them. Jeremy crooked his arm and Jenna slipped hers through it as he readied to walk her down the aisle.

"Thank you for doing this Jeremy. There's no one else who could have filled this space more perfectly." she said.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." he told her kissing her cheek once. The music started playing and Elena began her walk down the aisle towards the altar. She sat the satisfaction of seeing Damon's eyes almost jump out of his head at her appearance. The dress falling at above her knees and its strapless bodice did its job of driving Damon to almost distraction. His eyes caught hers as she took her spot across from Damon. The wedding march began and Jenna began her walk down the aisle. Elena was happy to see that she had finally stopped fiddling with her veil. She also swore that she seen tears in Jeremy's eyes as he walked her down the aisle, and she knew she seen tears in Ric's eyes. Jeremy kissed Jenna's cheek before placing her hand in Alaric's and taking his seat beside Bonnie in the front row. The minister immediately turned to the two and started his proceedings.

"We are joined today on this most joyous occasion to join Jenna Sommers and Alaric Saltzman in marriage. Marriage is the joining of two souls for an eternity. I could speak about love for days, but I would rather hear what the couple has to say to each other." he said. The minister turned to Alaric to start.

"Jenna, I can honestly say that I cant remember my life before you were in it. With you I found a happiness and peace within myself that I never knew before. I thank you for that. I will spend the rest of my life fighting to give you that same happiness and peace. So many times throughout our relationship I thought I'd lost you forever, but I never did. You always came back, and I thank you for that. I thank you for giving me a lifetime of love and devotion, and I plan on giving out that same love and devotion for as long as we both shall live." he said emotionally. His words made Elena start tearing up as she seen the first trace of a tear in Jenna's eye.

"Jenna." the minister said.

"My words aren't going to be nearly as eloquent as Ric's. But love doesn't need to be just about words. It should be about how you show it. And I plan on showing Ric how much I love him for the rest of my life. We will never spend a day where he doesn't know how I feel about him. I love you so much Ric, and now I know that everything that I went through before meeting you was all worth it. All the failed relationships and all the heartbreak just led me here to you, to this moment. When I first moved here to take care of Jeremy and Elena, I never expected to find you. I was here to take care of my family, I never expected to find you. But I am so glad that I did, and I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love and appreciate you. I love you Ric." Jenna said.

"Do you Alaric Saltzman take Jenna Sommers to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold from this day forward in sickness and in health, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?" the minister asked.

"I do." Alaric answered without hesitation.

"Do you Jenna Sommers take Alaric Saltzman to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold, from this day forward in sickness and in health, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?" the minister asked again.

"I do." Jenna answered her voice quivering with unshed tears. Alaric, place the ring on the fourth finger on Jenna's left hand." the minister said as Damon handed Ric the ring. He slipped the ring on Jenna's finger before Jenna repeated the action on Alaric.

"Now with the power vested in me by the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." he said. Alaric wasted no time by taking his new wife in his arms and kissing her softly. They then walked back up the aisle with Damon and Elena following closely behind them.

Later the evening after the supper was all done and the dance was in full swing. Elena was dancing with her brother while Damon was off to the side talking with Stefan, who was slowly getting back to normal, boring Stefan. They both looked happy, and Elena shared a look with Damon. He smiled over to her which sent butterflies flying around her stomach. Once the song ended, she walked over to her boyfriend and he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Where's Rebekah?" Elena asked Stefan of his recently acquired girlfriend.

"She was off getting a drink." he answered.

"Well she may ditch you if you don't ask her to dance. Girls like being asked to dance by their boyfriends." she said.

"But I don't dance." Stefan argued.

"Make an exception for Rebekah. She may love you but she wont for long if you ignore her." she said.

"Fine. You make a viable point." he said walking over to the bar where Rebekah was dancing.

"Well then, Miss Gilbert do you want to dance?" Damon asked.

"I thought you'd never ask." Elena said taking his outstretched hand. He pulled her close to his body as they started swaying to the dance playing over the sound system. The newly married couple were dancing just across from them and utterly engrossed in each other, Bonnie and Jeremy were dancing beside them, while Caroline and Tyler were making out by the table. Stefan and Rebekah were dancing stiffly across. Everyone could see that Stefan wasn't enjoying the dancing, but Rebekah thoroughly was. Elena laid her hand on Damon's shoulder and he pulled her closer to his side.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you too." he said kissing the top of her head. She nestled comfortably in his arms and sighed happily.

"They look so happy." she said smiling over and Jenna and Ric who were sitting at their table.

"Ever thought it'd end up like this?" he asked.

"Like what?" she wondered.

"You and I, being the maid of honour and best man at Jenna and Ric's wedding. When Ric first got here, he hated me with a passion, now I'm his best friend." he said.

"I'm glad we're here, just like this." she said.

"Want to go sit down?" he asked.

"Nah, lets go sit down for a minute." she said. She pulled him over to their table and sat down. She slid her chair closer to his and laid her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. After sitting like that for a few minutes in silence watching the dance go on around them, Damon suddenly stood up. Elena stared at him in confusion, especially when he kneeled down in front of her.

"What are you doing Damon?" she asked.

"Elena Marie Gilbert, will you do the honour of being my wife?" he asked taking her hand in his. He sounded so nervous and so formal that it almost brought tears to her eyes, she knew that this was how it would have been done in 1864. He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside an old fashioned diamond ring sat nestled.

"It's beautiful." she said covering her mouth with her hand.

"It was my mothers." he told her.

"It's so beautiful." she repeated.

"Will you marry me Elena Gilbert?" he asked again. She nodded knowing that words would be out of her reach at the moment. Tears were running down her face as he rubbed them away using the pads of his thumb. He slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her to him. She kissed him softly before pulling away.

"Now the question is, do we tell them? Or do we wait until tomorrow or the next day?" Damon asked quietly.

"We wait. This is their night." Elena said.

* * *

><p><strong>*<strong>_**one year later***_

Elena stood in Damon's bedroom at the Boarding house admiring her wedding dress while Caroline did her hair and makeup expertly. Elena was equal parts nervous and excited, she was excited to be married to her soul mate but scared to death that he might realize that she wasn't what he wanted beside him forever. It would kill her for him to realize that. She knew it was unlikely but still the thought was there.

"Relax. I remember a year ago you were telling Jenna to relax. Now I'm telling you." Caroline said. Bonnie stood to her other side and smiled at her friend.

"I cant believe, I'm about to say this. But I'm happy for you and Damon. You're perfect for each other." she said.

"Thanks Bonnie." Elena said. Once Caroline finished, Elena looked at herself in the full length mirror and smiled at the reflection in front of her. She looked so happy. Her hair was done in soft waves and some of it was pulled back under her veil. Her dress was strapless and a loose flowy material. She loved the dress, had fallen in love with it the moment she laid eyes on it. It was perfect outside and Elena couldn't wait for the ceremony to begin. She wanted the ceremony to begin, so it could end, so she could start living her life with her new husband. She hadn't seen him since yesterday, since her friends insisted that they do this right. Elena looked out the window and seen all the guests seated in the garden, and she seen Damon, Stefan and Alaric standing at the altar. When Jeremy knocked on the door Elena knew it was time.

"Are you ready?" he asked Elena.

"Yeah." she answered. Bonnie and Caroline walked out of the room before Jeremy smoothed Elena's veil before taking her arm in his.

" I cant believe you're getting married. I'm so happy for you." he said hugging his sister.

"Jer, you're going to make me cry." she said hugging him back.

"Be better get going before I start crying." he said pulling her from the room. Bonnie and Caroline waited at the glass doors leading to the garden. The music started playing as Bonnie and then Caroline made their ways down the aisle. All the guests turned to watch as they walked down the aisle. When the wedding march started up all the guests stood up and faced the door where Jeremy and Elena had appeared and slowly started walking down the aisle. When they made it to the mouth of the aisle, Jeremy kissed Elena's cheek and in a symbol as old as time placed his sisters hand in Damon's. His fingers clasped hers tightly as they walked up to meet the minister.

"It's one of life's richest surprises when the accidental meeting of two life paths lead them to proceed along the common path as husband and wife. It is one of life's finest experiences when a casual relationship grows into a permanent bond of love. This meeting and this growth bring us here today. Damon and Elena, will you take vows here before all of us which symbolize the manifested vows you have already made and will continue to make throughout your lives?" the minister said reading from his folder.

"We will." Damon and Elena said together.

"I Elena, take you, Damon, as my friend and love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquillity, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, in all the ways life may find us." Elena said after the minister.

"I Damon take you Elena, as my friend and love, beside me and apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict and tranquillity, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, in all the ways life may find us." Damon said after the minister.

"The circle, is the symbol or the sun, earth and universe. It is the symbol of peace. Let this ring be the symbol of unity and peace in which your two lives are joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever you go, return unto one another and to your togetherness. Damon slid the ring onto Elena's finger and said "I give you this ring to wear upon your hand as a symbol of our unity in steadfast love. Elena slid the ring on Damon's finger and told him " I give you this ring to wear upon your hand as a symbol of our unity and togetherness."

"You are mature people who have established individual patterns of living. Yet you have found not only a need for companionship, but the satisfaction of that need in each others company. It is this love, based upon a responsible understanding, that will aid you in creating out of your two lives, a marriage, and a happiness that you will share together. Stand fast in hope and confidence, believing in yourself, and believing in each other. In as much as you two have com before your friends and family, and have declared your love and devotion to each other. I now greet you with them as husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." he finished. Damon swooped in and kissed her with everything he had before breaking apart, both of them breathless.

"I now introduce you to Mr and Mrs Damon and Elena Salvatore." the minister said as they walked back down the aisle, followed by Caroline and Stefan, and Bonnie and Alaric.

"I love you so much." Elena whispered as they danced alone to their first dance as husband and wife.

"I love you too. So much." he said. The finished their dance and everyone else joined them on the dance floor. Everywhere you looked there were couples in love dancing. Caroline and Tyler were staring deep in each others eyes while swaying to the beat. Jenna and Alaric were dancing across from them. Bonnie and Jeremy. Stefan and Rebekah. Matt and his new human girlfriend Michelle who knew nothing of the supernatural world that Mystic Falls really was. Everyone was happy and everyone was together.

"Come with me." Damon whispered. She followed close behind him as they left their party and started walking off the dance floor.

"Where are we going?" she asked. They walked a little ways away before he stopped and pulled her close to him.

"I just wanted to be alone with you for a minute." he said.

"I'm not complaining." she said.

"Did you ever think it would end up like this?" he asked.

"Not once. But I wouldn't change it for the world." she said.

"You wouldn't change being married to a vampire, having a vampire best friend and a witch for another best friend, having a hybrid for a friend. A vampire hunter as a guardian. You wouldn't change any of that?" he asked.

"Not one. Because if I had, then I wouldn't have you. If you weren't a vampire, you wouldn't be Damon, and my life wouldn't be nearly as full of love." she said.

"You are exceptionally profound tonight." he said admirably.

"You have that effect on me. Did you ever think it would end up like this? Me and you together." she asked.

"Not once. But I'm happy it did. Look at them. Everything is perfect, and I intend to make sure it stays that way." he said pulling her close to his side.

"Would you change anything?" she asked.

"Not one. Everything i perfect." he said before pulling her in for one more kiss before returning to their party.


End file.
